Azam Cheema

Azam Cheema (1953 – 28 February 2024), also known as Baba or Babaji, was a Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba operative who was the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks and the 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings. In November 2010, the United States Department of the Treasury announced sanctions against him just before Barack Obama's visit to India. A citizen of Pakistan, he was described as the intelligence chief of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and was specifically involved in teaching operatives bomb making skills and skills necessary to infiltrate India.

Cheema was born in Faisalabad, Pakistan in 1953. He was sanctioned as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List by the Office of Foreign Assets Control; where his addresses are listed in Islamabad, Muzaffarabad and Bahawalpur.^[2] Cheema reportedly died from a heart attack in Pakistan on 28 February 2024, at the age of 70.

Born in 1953 in a lower middle class Punjabi Muslim family, Cheema eventually became a teacher of Islamic studies at the Government Municipal Degree College, Faisalabad.^[3] While teaching there in the 1980s,^[1] Cheema joined a circle of Islamist professors from the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore who were involved with the Ahl-i Hadith movement. The members of this group were Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder and commander Hafiz Saeed, Abdul Rehman Makki and Zafar Iqbal.^[3]

Investigations by the Mumbai Police revealed Cheema knew Osama bin Laden and other Al-Qaeda commanders.^[4] It is said Cheema was pivotal in transporting Al-Qaeda logistics commander Abu Zubaydah to a Faisalabad safehouse in March 2002, on behalf of the Pakistani external intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).^[1] Cheema was known to have great expertise in reading maps, and also fought in the Soviet–Afghan War,^[4][5] though there is little information about Cheema's activities in the war.^[1] After the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992, Saeed tasked Cheema with creating a new front in mainland India which had different objectives than those in Kashmir.^[1]

Cheema's role in the LeT was managing operations in India, excluding Kashmir. He led a distinct unit for these operations and only communicated with its members.^[6] Although he was not the LeT commander for Kashmir, Cheema was nevertheless an eminent figure in its operations there and attended multiple public memorials for LeT operatives who died there and elsewhere in India.^[7] Cheema was described as the intelligence chief of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, and was specifically involved in teaching operatives bomb making skills.^[8] He also worked on infiltrating terrorists into India, establishing militant training camps and supplying arms.^[9]

Indian agencies learned about Cheema for the first time in 1998 while investigating terrorists planning to attack Delhi. They discovered the multiple attacks Cheema was planning along with his LeT senior Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, and Indian LeT commander Syed Abdul Karim Tunda. From 1997 to 1998, these three terrorists commanded the LeT's "Dasta Mohammad Bin Qasim" unit, which executed attacks in North India.^[1] On 7 March 2009, Abu Taher was arrested at Sealdah railway station in Kolkata. Taher, along with Tunda and Jalees Ansari, carried out 40 blasts in North Indian cities from December 1996 to January 1997.^[10]

Cheema succeeded Lakhvi as the LeT commander of India operations. Cheema sent money to Saleem Junaid, an LeT agent in Hyderabad, who bought a Mitsubishi Fuso Canter light truck and used it for the business he set up as a cover cover. Among other things, the truck was used to transport RDX to Dehradun in July 1997, which was later placed on a military coach in a train going to Delhi.^[11] Other than Junaid, Cheema's Indian agents were Abdul Sattar, who created a terror module in Khurja; and Amir Khan, whose module had members in the states of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana and the Indian capital Delhi. Junaid, Sattar and Khan were arrested between 1997 and 1998.^[3]

In November 2002, LeT member Mohammad Azam was arrested in Hyderabad. In order to set off religious violence, Azam plotted to murder Hindu nationalists, among them B. Narayana Reddy of Gaddiannaram, Ajay Kumar of Saidabad and, most notably, businessman and Vishva Hindu Parishad leader G. Pulla Reddy. Azam was in touch with LeT commanders Tunda, Cheema and Fahadullah, who also sent him explosives.^[12]

According to Indian police officer D. G. Vanzara, Cheema executed nearly all the terror attacks in Gujarat after the 2002 Gujarat violence. Vanzara said Cheema was involved in terror since 1995 and his associate Abu Amjad was killed in a police encounter in 1998. Vanzara also said Cheema executed the 2006 Ahmedabad railway station bombing and created an LeT cell in Aurangabad with the intent to attack Gujarat.^[9] Cheema was also listed as a suspect in the 2007 Samjhauta Express bombings.^[13]

In July 2001, LeT militant Muzammil (also known as Shahnawaz Hussain Bhatti) was arrested by the Border Security Force near Hajipir in Kutch.^[14] He helped Indian police locate 32 kilograms (71 lb) of RDX and other weapons in the Rann of Kutch, and said he received them from Cheema.^[a][15] Police believe Bhatti trained in Pakistan in January 1993, and at the same time also met Cheema and Aftab Ansari of the LeT and Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). Police also speculate Cheema planned to smuggle arms and infiltrate members of a Kolkata module of the JeM through the India–Pakistan border in the state of Gujarat.^[15] Bhatti, who was serving a life sentence pronounced in 2007, was imprisoned at Sabarmati Central Jail along with four more Pakistanis. The group were planning a jailbreak with assistance from Cheema's unit based in Sindh.^[14]

Cheema, along with Asif Raza Khan and Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh of the JeM, created a terrorist module operating under the Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami. The module planned to kidnap Indian cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly for ransom, kill Indian president A. P. J. Abdul Kalam when he visited Patna in 2001, and also plant bombs at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai. The members of the module were arrested in the first three months of 2001.^[b][16]

In July 2001, Partha Roy Burman, the chairman of Indian company Khadim's, was kidnapped and released only after his ransom was paid. The kidnapping was executed by Dubai-based gangster Aftab Ansari, aided by Asif Raza Khan of the SIMI. In turn, Khan solicited help from Cheema and Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh. They struck a deal under which they would supply the arms and ammunition, and then Ansari would pay them a fixed share of the ransom.^[17]

For the 2005 Indian Institute of Science shooting in Bengaluru, Cheema supplied trained fedayeen (suicide attackers), dispatching them to LeT bases in India via Kathmandu. Cheema was also the commander Razaullah Nizamani, also known as Abu Saifullah Khalid, reported to. Nizamani was the one who planned and facilitated the attack, and perhaps himself went to Nepal to arrange the hideout for the incoming attackers. During the attack, Indian mathematician Munish Chander Puri was killed. Nizamani was also the planner of the failed 2006 attack on the Nagpur headquarters of the Hindu nationalist organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.^[7]

Two LeT members arrested in Delhi on 8 May 2006 said they met Cheema in Bahawalpur, and then joined his terror camp Al Aqsa, located in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan administered Kashmir.^[9] These two were Feroze Abdul Latif Ghaswala from Mumbai and Mohammed Ali Chhipa from Ahmedabad. They were arrested on arrival at the Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station, with 4 kilograms (8.8 lb) of RDX and ₹50,000 cash (equivalent to ₹190,805 in 2023). While training in Bangladesh with the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh in 2004, Ghaswala met Cheema, who offered him an invitation to visit Pakistan. At Bahawalpur in June 2006, Ghaswala met Cheema and Mohammed Iqbal (alias Abu Hamza). Chhipa was also introduced to Cheema in Bahawalpur, where both learned how to handle high-quality explosive material, bombs and timers.^[18]

An Interpol red corner notice revealed Rizwan Dawrey received funds from Cheema and sent them to India via Saudi Arabia through hawala networks. These funds were used in the 2006 Mumbai train bombings.^[19] According to a Press Trust of India report, Cheema was the LeT commander who approved and supervised the bombings, and also arranged for Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) members to attend training camps in Pakistan.^[20]

On 27 July 2006, the Mumbai Police arrested Faisal Shaikh, the LeT commander in west India, and his brother Muzzammil Shaikh; the two had executed the Mumbai bombings and said they were initiated into terror by Cheema.^[9] Faisal primarily worked for Cheema,^[21] and underwent arms training with him in Pakistan in 1999.^[22] As ordered by Cheema, Faisal arranged for Muzzammil,^[21] Unani doctor Tanvir Ansari,^[23] Sohail Shaikh and Zameer Shaikh to travel to Pakistan through Tehran.^[21] Others who traveled to Pakistan for training via Iran between 2001 and 2005 were Kamal Ansari and Shaikh Mohd. Ali.^[24]

At the training camp in Bahawalpur, Faisal said Cheema was the one who arranged for the ISI Director General, Major General Hamid Gul, and Brigadier Riazullah Khan Chibb and Colonel Rafiq to visit the Bahawalpur camp. They were brought to inculcate the terrorists training there in jihad. Faisal said Cheema often visited the LeT camps in Karachi and Lahore as well.^[5][23] Cheema's favorite trainee was Faisal, who desired to remain in Pakistan but Cheema told him he had to execute the mission in India. Faisal said Cheema had a library with materials on violence against Muslims, did not tolerate those who asked questions and rebuked them to set an example for the other trainees. Cheema ordered Tanvir Ansari to crawl across the training ground when he questioned why Mumbai was the target and not Ahmedabad. Ansari was also expelled from the camp in the middle of his 21-day course.^[23]

In his confession, Faisal said he told Lashkar commander Abdul Rehman Makki he wished to work with Cheema in 2002, who told him to enlist more Indian men and dispatch them to Pakistan to get trained. Cheema provided Faisal with ₹20,000 (equivalent to ₹76,322 in 2023) to ₹25,000 (equivalent to ₹95,402 in 2023) for his daily spends. Four months after Faisal entered India through the Wagah border and went to Pune for enlisting Indians, Cheema transferred ₹180,000 (equivalent to ₹686,897 in 2023) over hawala channels. In 2003, Faisal emigrated to Saudi Arabia for work and later informed Cheema he hoped to visit Pakistan again. In March 2004, Faisal arrived at the Bahawalpur base via Dubai. For Faisal's return to India, again through Dubai, Cheema supplied a fake passport in the name of Mohammed Akhtar. After Faisal arrived in Mumbai, he was constantly communicating with Cheema, who told him to execute a significant attack. Faisal therefore reconnoitered the World Trade Centre, Bombay Stock Exchange, Mahalaxmi Temple, Siddhivinayak Temple, local train stations and multiple malls. Faisal chose local stations and trains for the attack as they were crowded and had limited security.^[25]

According to the Indian prosecution in the case, in May 2006, Cheema charged Faisal to come up with potential targets, and Faiasl said the Mumbai Suburban Railway system was a good target for bombings. Also in May, ten Pakistanis and two Indian residents of Pakistan arrived in Mumbai to execute the bombings.^[c][24] The defense lawyers alleged the 12 accused were just the "foot soldiers" for Cheema and the bombings were probably executed by the Indian Mujahideen (IM). Judge Yatin Shinde, who tried the case in 2015, said the IM's patters were not observed in the case. Shinde further stated the 12 weren't "foot soldiers" for Cheema, instead, they established their own module willingly, using their experience in the SIMI.^[26] On 22 July 2025, the Bombay High Court acquitted all 12 accused in the Mumbai bombings case, and said the prosecution hadn't proved collusion between them and Cheema even though their Call detail records were available.^[4][24]

Cheema probably planned and supervised the 1 January 2008 attack on a Central Reserve Police Force base in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh. Sabahuddin Ahmed and Faheem Ansari, who executed the attack, said they talked to Cheema while carrying out the attack.^[6] Anonymous Intelligence Bureau officials said Cheema was not involved in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, because he withdrew from his more active role four months before the attack due to diabetes. They said Cheema was succeeded in his role by Abu Qama, and was being informed about the plot when potential targets were reconnoitered by LeT members. Meanwhile, Cheema's new charge was reportedly supervising recruits and indoctrinating them.^[6] Other sources said Cheema was succeeded by Yousuf Muzammil Butt, while he returned to his role as an Islamic studies teacher at the Government Degree College Jaranwala.^[27]

According to other sources, Cheema was the operations advisor to Lakhvi at the time of the Mumbai attacks.^[5] The control room was located in the Quaidabad area of Karachi, somewhere between Malir Cantonment and Jinnah International Airport. The handlers present at the control room were reportedly Cheema, Lakhvi, Butt, Sajid Mir, Abu Jundal and Zarrar Shah.^[28]

On 25 February 2010, Nirupama Rao, India's Foreign Secretary at the time, sent a dossier to Salman Bashir, Pakistan's Foreign Secretary. It included details on terrorists including Cheema, Nasr Javed, Ilyas Kashmiri and others. In the dossiers, Cheema's address was listed as a bungalow in Hashmi Colony on Multan road in Bahawalpur. LeT terrorists in Indian custody revealed he has a lab there to administer explosives training.^[29] On 28 March 2011, India released its list of the 49 most wanted terrorists, of whom 18 were Pakistani citizens. Cheema was listed at number 30.^[30]

In 2008, two LeT terrorists, who had sailed to Mumbai from Karachi in 2007, were arrested in Rajouri. The two, Abdul Majid Arain from Sindh and Jameel Ahmed Awan from Abbottabad, revealed they were influenced by the speeches of Saeed and Cheema, who instigated them to combat atrocities against Muslims in Kashmir and other parts of India.^[31]

On 19 November 2010, relatives of Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife filed a lawsuit against the ISI and LeT for their role in the Mumbai attacks. On 24 November, a New York district court summoned Cheema, Saeed, Lakhvi and Sajid Mir of the LeT; and also to Major Samir Ali, Major Iqbal, Ahmad Shuja Pasha and Nadeem Taj of the ISI. The lawsuit claimed the "LeT, Saeed, Lakhvi, Cheema and Mir" were liable to pay damages greater than $75,000 to the living relatives of those killed in the attacks.^[32] It was the first ever summon by an American court issued to the ISI. James Kreindler of Kreindler & Kreindler was the attorney for the victims' families.^[33]

On 30 and 31 October 2014, nine American and Israeli victims and their families filed for a jury trial and default judgment against the LeT and its commanders before the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. They also claimed they were owed $688 million in damages by the LeT. This lawsuit did not include the ISI or its officials, after the United States Department of State said they enjoyed diplomatic immunity. The victims were represented by Kreindler and Andrew J. Maloney.^[34]

In 2010, the United States Department of the Treasury announced sanctions against him just before Barack Obama's visit to India.^[35][23] On 20 January 2010, a US political officer informed United Nations (UN) officials about the proposed ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee sanctions of Cheema, Makki and Jaish-e-Mohammed leader Masood Azhar. The US officer also requested China to drop its veto. Chinese official Shen Yinyin noted China had not replied to additional information about the three provided in October 2009.^[36]

In May 2009, the United Kingdom agreed with China on the need for more information before the three could be sanctioned.^[27] On 21 August 2009, the US Embassy in Beijing sent a diplomatic cable, quoting the Chinese Foreign Ministry saying it didn't have enough evidence to approve sanctions against the three. Yinyin said Chinese authorities requested the Indian government to provide more information, but it said the evidence already submitted was adequate. In another cable, the State Department opined China was disapproving sanctions on behalf of Pakistan.^[37]

Cheema reportedly died from a heart attack in Pakistan on 28 February 2024, at the age of 70.^[5]

Cheema was portrayed by Vinod Tharani in the 2025 Indian spy thriller film Dhurandhar.^[38]

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