Ghatkopar blast brain arrested from Hyderabad

The Mumbai Police crime branch on Friday arrested the main conspirator in the 2002 Ghatkopar blast that claimed two lives and had left 49 injured.

The police said the accused Taj-ul Islam Kazi, a member of the banned outfit Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), was arrested from Hyderabad by a team of crime branch officers.
 Kazi was working as a software engineer with HCL in Hyderabad under a fake name Siddiqui Taj Quazi, earning a salary of Rs70,000 per month and staying in Hyderabad with his wife and five children.

“Kazi is originally from Aurangabad. Soon after the blasts, he went into hiding. He has been staying in Hyderabad for the past 10 years,” said Himanshu Roy, joint commissioner of police (crime).
In December 2002, at around 6.45pm, a powerful bomb kept under the rear seat of an empty BEST bus parked near the railway station went off and created havoc. Kazi, who was wanted in the case, had been declared absconding.

Roy said they received a tip-off around two months ago that Kazi had been staying in Hyderabad with his family. Acting on this information, the crime branch team carried out an investigation and, finally, dispatched a team to Hyderabad to arrest Kazi. He was produced in the Esplanade Court on Friday and has been remanded to police custody till December 3.

“Although he was not a part of the team that executed the plan, he was the main conspirator,” said Roy.

Of the 29 people chargesheeted, only 19 accused had been arrested in the case. Roy stated that Kazi’s arrest is important as it would help them in tracking down other SIMI members.