2002 Mumbai bus bombing: Key accused held by Gujarat ATS

The Gujarat Anti-terrorism Squad (ATS) on Wednesday apprehended a key accused in the 2002 Mumbai bus bombing case. The accused Yahya Abdul Shaikh (45) was arrested from Aurangabad. The blast which took place in a BEST bus left two people dead and more than 50 injured.

According to officials, Shaikh had been living in Aurangabad for some time but he was arrested after the police got concrete information about his whereabouts. Shaikh was listed as the owner of a company named Pragma Soft Tech. The local police had raided the company premises in 2002 and found incriminating literature related to terrorist organisations such as Indian Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Al Qaeda. They had also recovered several videos of the 2002 Gujarat riots and other anti-social activities.

Shaikh had played a major role in the 2002 blast. He was involved in planning and execution of the blast. Police intelligence had suggested that he had absconded to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia after the blast. Regarding the case, the Mumbai CID has registered a number of cases under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, including IPC 302, 307, 326, 324, 34, 120(B) and Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). The case has been handed over to the Maharashtra Police for further investigation.

On December 2, 2002, a bomb went off in a BEST bus near Ghatkopar station in Mumbai at 6:45 pm. It was planted under a seat towards the rear end of the bus. The incident took place four days before the tenth anniversary of the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.