Top Indian Mujahideen (IM) leader Iqbal Bhatkal's 'modern' wife led to a split in the terror group as many members and leaders refused to acknowledge him as their amir (commander).
Iqbal's live-in relationship with a woman in Pakistan for eight months before he married her left other IM leaders based in Pakistan seething. They also demanded an explanation on the use of the money given to them by Pakistan's spy agency ISI for heavy expenditure in his personal life.
The splinter group had plans to form a group called Tehreek-e-Taliban Hindustan on the lines of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.
These details are part of the supplementary chargesheet filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on the conspiracy hatched by the IM to spread terror in India. The online chats between Riyaz and Yasin Bhatkal mentioned in the chargesheet indicate that there was a rift in the group.
The NIA pressed charges against Yasin and his accomplice Asadullah Akhtar alias Haddi for their alleged role in several terror attacks across India. The duo was arrested from the Indo-Nepal border last year.
In one of the chats on May 13, 2013, quoted by the NIA, Riyaz mentioned to Yasin: "Iqbal's position was in trouble due to his marriage since his wife was quite modern and did not wear purdah." Riyaz informed Yasin that Bada Sajid, who fled from the Batla House encounter site in 2008 in Delhi, was fighting on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and was the main person of the splinter group.
Riyaz also informed Yasin that the news about Iqbal's marriage was broken to the IM leaders through the ISI. The ISI also asked Iqbal for complete details of expenditure of money from him. This was revealed to Yasin by Riyaz in an online conversation on July 9, 2013. "Two ISI personnel gave `1,90,000 and `50,000 to Iqbal as a wedding gift," the NIA has said in the chargesheet, quoting the chat. On hearing this one of the IM leaders Shafi said the ISI people cannot be treated as Islamic. Several members of the group felt cheated since Iqbal had been lying to them about his marriage.
The NIA has stated in the chargesheet that after the split, one group was headed by Sajid Sheikh alias Bada Sajid and the other by Iqbal and Riyaz Bhatkal-the founder members of IM. The splinter group did not want to be controlled by the ISI and wanted to move to Afghanistan.
In another chat between Yasin and Afeef, who was part of the splinter group, another breakaway member Shafi briefed Yasin about Iqbal Bhatkal getting into a scuffle with other members. In one more chat Shafi told Yasin that the ISI called them for verification and questioned them like accused. The ISI stated they had given `6 crore within three months to IM members living in Pakistan and asked for complete expenditure details. It is here ISI officials mentioned that Iqbal married a woman on June 21, 2013, after living in with her for eight months.
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