Mirza Himayat Baig, one of the two arrested in the German Bakery blast case on Tuesday, was originally from the faction of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) headed by Zulfikar Faiyaz Ahmed Kagzi and Syed Zabiuddin Syed Zakiuddin Ansari, alias Zabi. Both, Kagzi and Zabi, were involved in the Aurangabad arms haul case of the ATS in 2006 and are wanted.
Baig was wanted by the police since 2006. He came in contact with Akbar Chaudhary — already arrested by the crime branch in September, 2008, during the crackdown on the Indian Mujahideen (IM) — while he was working in a library in Pune, the police claimed.
“When Baig was at large and wanted a hideout, it was Akbar who introduced him to his brother Mohsin, who then introduced him to Iqbal and Riyaz Bhatkal, top bosses of IM. Iqbal and Riyaz provided shelter to Baig at their residence in Bhatkal in Karnataka. During his stay in Bhatkal, Baig had also undergone training,” said an ATS official, without elaborating on the nature of training.
The officer added that, Baig is person who is responsible for the merger of LeT modules with those of IM. “He was the LeT chief of Maharashtra and was entrusted with the responsibility of selecting the targets, getting in touch with the sleeper modules, plan the attack and execute them,” said the official, requesting anonymity.
Another police official claimed that, Baig had created a huge group of radicals in the state would could be activated when required. “Baig had told the police that Kagzi, Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal were in touch with him prior to the Pune blast,” said the officer.
Comments