Omar Saeed Posed as Pranab, Called Zardari after 26/11: Reports
The man who made hoax calls to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari following 26/11 attacks posing as Indian External Affairs Minister – Pranab Mukherjee, then – has been recognized as Omar Saeed Sheikh, a militant.
Posing as Mukherjee, Sheikh had reportedly threatened Zardari over the phone with a view to heighten tensions between India and Pakistan post 26/11.
Reports say that Sheikh even called Pranab Mukherjee and he got through to an operator handling Mukherjee’s calls and told her that he was President of Pakistan.
However, the Indian side grew suspicious of the caller as the normal procedure for placing such a high-level call was not followed and it was never put through to the minister.
Sheikh, one of the three militants who were released during Kandhar plane hijack episode, also attempted to speak to the US Secretary of State.
He had made all these calls from a Britain-registered SIM and from inside a jail in Karachi where he is serving life imprisonment for killing Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl.
According to report, got updates on the Mumbai attacks while being in jail from his wife, Saadia, using his mobile phone secretly. Reports also say that he was in touch with the mastermind of the 26/11 carnage, Lashkar-e-Toiba leader Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.
Sheikh had been released by the BJP-led government in India in exchange for the passengers of the hijacked IC-814 plane in Kandahar.
