From bin Laden’s scout to Asda store manager.The sudden vanishing of convicted terrorist Qaisar Shaffi
A few months before the September 11 attacks, Qaisar Shaffi, a resident of Willesden, North London, took a trip to New York. Although he was employed at a London phone shop then, he undertook a dangerous mission. Recruited by extremist Dhiren Barot, currently serving a 30-year minimum prison sentence, Shaffi was tasked with identifying potential targets for terrorist attacks in the U.S. and the UK.
The British press reported that the 25-year-old Shaffi traveled to the U.S. with Barot and then another individual, 26-year-old Nadeem Tarmohammed. The trio scouted potential attack sites including the New York Stock Exchange and Citicorp Building in New York, the Prudential Building in Newark, NJ, as well as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in the District of Columbia.
Osama bin Laden sent these men on a reconnaissance mission. The three British citizens took extensive video footage of the buildings, and their content was later discovered on a computer hard drive associated with Al-Qaeda.
During their trial after being arrested, Shaffi insisted that his involvement in the Al-Qaeda reconnaissance mission was akin to a free holiday. He argued he got embroiled in planning mass murder solely "for a thrill", maintaining his primary interests were clothes, alcohol, and drugs.
Shaffi was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder in 2007 and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He spent much of his sentence as category. A prisoner and was at one time incarcerated at the Long Lartin prison in Worcestershire. Halfway through his sentence, he was released and, as reported by 'The Sun', he secured a job at an Asda store in 2015.
Terrorist mysteriously vanishes in the UK
In the meantime, Shaffi earned a degree from Middlesex University and eventually advanced to the position of store manager. Later, he transitioned to another Asda store in northwest London. However, one day, he simply failed to turn up for work.
"Everything happened very suddenly," a source told The Mirror. "One moment he was a store manager, and then he vanished. It remains unclear whether he was dismissed or had resigned. I heard staff members mention that he's a terrorist, but there's confusion as to when and how this information became public. It appears that the issue surfaced when a liquor license application for the store was filed under his name.
The store chain was reportedly aware of Shaffi's past and chose to offer him a second chance. The chain's website states that it routinely performs background checks to uncover any convictions, providing a fresh start for ex-convicts. It remains unclear what prompted Qaisar Shaffi to abandon his workplace, and his current whereabouts are unknown. Representatives from the Asda franchise have declared that they will not comment on individual cases.
