"Gifts from the Gulf" continued...

Asif introduced Aftab to the infamous Omar Sheikh while on a visit to the Jail Hospital. Sheikh,
a London School of Economics graduate, was doing time for the kidnapping of four Western
tourists – three British and one American - in October 1994, in cahoots with Kashmiri separatists. He was linked to various Islamist militant groups like Jaish-e-Mohammad, Al-Qaeda, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Harkat-ul-Ansar and the Taliban. He was subsequently released by the Government of India in exchange for passengers aboard the hijacked Indian Airlines flight 814 in December, 1999 alongside Maulana Masood Azhar (Founder of Jaish e Mohammad) and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, both dreaded terrorists. Omar Sheikh was to earn further notoriety as the prime accused in the kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl of the Wall Street Journal in Pakistan in February, 2001. Awarded death sentence on conviction, he awaits execution lodged in a Pakistani jail.

Conversations with Omar Sheikh in Tihar Jail had a profound effect on Aftab Ansari. To add to
Aftab’s radicalization was the company of his cellmate Akhtar Hussain aka Hashim Bhai, a
hardcore militant sympathizer. Akhtar hailed from a village in Gurgaon district, not far from
Delhi, and kept himself engrossed in religious books and prayers for hours every day. Aftab was
deeply influenced by Akhtar’s religiosity and came quite close to him. Aftab, Akhtar and Asif
Raza Khan ganged up on their release from jail and worked together to commit several crimes.

To be continued...