Chaudhary is being probed by investigators in the serial bomb blasts that rocked the city on Wednesday evening, killing 17 people and leaving as many as 133 injured.
The role of a top operative of terrorist outfit Indian Mujahideen’s (IM), Mohsin Chaudhary, is being probed by investigators in the serial bomb blasts that rocked the city on Wednesday evening, killing 17 people and leaving as many as 133 injured.
Chaudhary, a resident of Manisha Nagar complex in Pune, was last seen in 2008 after the Mumbai crime branch busted an IM module in Pune and arrested 21 people. Chaudhary had, however, managed to escape and had fled to Bangladesh.
The police were left baffled when it was learnt that Chaudhary had sneaked back into the country and executed a terror strike at Pune’s German Bakery on February 13, 2010. The police say that Chaudhary had returned to the country in January last year. In the last week of January, a meeting was held at Udgir in Latur district, which was attended by Chaudhary, Mohammad Ahmed Zarar Sadibappa alias Yasin Bhatkal, and Mirza Himayat Baig. While Chaudhary and Bhatkal are absconding, Baig has been arrested in the Pune blast case.
The ATS which is investigating the serial bomb blasts feels that they bear a resemblance to the way IM has operated in the past. A senior police officer said that Chaudhary is a close friend of Iqbal Bhatkal, who is the brother of Riyaz Bhatkal alias Roshan Khan. “Chaudhary is one of the trusted lieutenants of Iqbal and is independent enough to head a sleeper cell,” the officer said.
Incidentally, Mohsin’s brother Akbar has been arrested by the crime branch and was thereafter taken into custody by the Gujarat police for his alleged role in the July 26, 2008, serial bomb blasts in Ahmedabad. “Akbar had revealed that Mohsin is an important part of the core IM module. In fact, it was Mohsin who introduced Akbar to Iqbal and Riyaz and asked him to work for IM,” said a police official.
According to the police, a few days before the Ahmedabad blasts, Mohsin, along with three other IM members, had travelled to Mumbai and scouted for places with wireless internet. Minutes after the blasts, they had sent emails to media houses claiming responsibility.
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