Mohammad Mansoor Asgar Peerbhoy, co-founder of the media cell of Indian Mujahideen (IM), had come up with the idea to hack the WiFi connection of computers a year ago.
Mansoor had been interacting with cyber experts from across the globe through emails asking them about the proxy server technology, the police said.
An investigator said, “Mansoor had sent emails to several cyber experts and hackers from United States, Europe, and Asia.”
The official said that in August 2007, Mansoor had allegedly sent 32 emails to cyber experts across the world. “Mansoor used to surf the internet for hours. He had also received feedback from several computer experts who gave him detailed information on how to hack a WiFi network.”
According to a crime branch official, they were able to gather this information after interrogating Mansoor who was arrested from Pune last month. “We have seized his laptop and are trying to retrieve the emails sent by him. We believe that important data can be retrieved from his computer,” he said.
Police said in May 2007, Mansoor and Mubin alias Salmaan Kadar Shaikh, along with seven other IM members had enrolled in a private computer course in Hyderabad, where they learnt to hack the WiFi networks.
The crime branch is now enquiring about the group that had organised the week-long course.
Apart from that, the police learnt that IM operatives had to change their schedule during the Delhi and Gujarat blasts due to some glitch.
“They had planned to conduct blasts in Delhi on September 11, but they didn’t receive the explosives on time. Similarly, in Gujarat, the group had planned the attack on July 19,” said a police official.