Imran Shehzad, who wanted to blow up the BSE

The Mumbai police's crime branch says Imran Shehzad helped both Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed conduct a survey of likely targets in Mumbai before the terrorist strikes last November.

Shehzad was recruited by the Lashkar-e-Tayiba in Dubai where he then worked, and sent to a terror training camp in Pakistan.

Intelligence Bureau officers told rediff.com that Shehzad reported to Imran Mian, the Lashkar's representative in Bangladesh. While the attacks were planned in Pakistan, the Lashkar's Bangladesh wing, in coordination with the Harkat-ul-Jihadi, helped provide logistical support for the attacks.

Once the Lashkar decided to send across Ansari and Sabahuddin to conduct the survey in Mumbai, Shehzad was asked to help with the logistics.

Shehzad was given this job in addition from forming a team who were assigned to bomb the Bombay Stock Exchange in March last year. He was arrested before the plan could materialise.

According to IB sources, Shehzad could provide vital leads on the Bangladesh angle to the Mumbai strikes.

Imran Mian, the Lashkar's man in Bangladesh, is as important as any Lashkar terrorist in Pakistan where this case is concerned. Over the years, he set up a network of Lashkar agents in India who indoctrinate youth and send them to train in Pakistan.

Along with Abu Qama, a Lashkar terrorist in Pakistan, Imran Mian asked the Indian Mujahideen to arrange for SIM cards for the Mumbai attackers.

Meanwhile, sources said probing Syed Mohammad Naushad, who was arrested in connection with the Gujarat blasts, will help the police get information on the Indian Mujahideen-Lashkar association.

IB agents believe the IM played a role in the Mumbai attacks.

During his interrogation Naushad revealed that Riyaz Bhatkal reported to Qama during every operation.

IB sources say every IM operation was closely monitored by Lashkar's terror leadership. Bhatkal ensured that after every blast, photographs were taken of the sites and sent across to Pakistan.

According to Naushad, Bhatkal wanted to set up Lashkar networks in every corner of the country to ensure that the terror outfit did not need to look anywhere other than India when it came to finance and logistics.

Further, Bhatkal also wanted both the IM and Lashkar would-be terrorists to train together either in India or Pakistan. He wanted to style the IM on the Lashkar, but did not want a Pakistan link cropping up after every terror attack as it would mount international pressure on Pakistan.