the Delhi police on Saturday claimed they had not just cracked the Delhi blasts case but also the cases of various similar strikes across the country in recent times.
NEW DELHI: Exactly a week after five blasts ripped through the national capital claiming 20 lives and leaving more than 100 injured, the Delhi police on Saturday claimed they had not just cracked this case but also the cases of various similar strikes across the country in recent times.
If claims of the Delhi police are to be believed, the roots of the spate of terror attacks can be traced back to Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). Joint Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Karnal Singh claimed, “The recent attacks in Uttar Pradesh, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Delhi were all carried out by Indian Mujahideen (IM) with logistical support from SIMI. The two terror outfits were receiving backend support from LeT. LeT had got in touch with SIMI and IM after several of its men were arrested or neutralised in India.”
According to the police, Pakistan’s ISI, often accused of supporting terror attacks in India, was put under tremendous pressure due to the arrests of LeT men in India, and this is why LeT started taking the help of Indian terror outfits like SIMI and IM to carry out the terror strikes.
The breakthrough came after Friday’s encounter in which police gunned down the alleged mastermind of the recent terror strikes, Atif alias Bashir, and his aide, Mohd Sajid alias Pankaj.
The police said they got “vital leads” in the probe following the interrogation of Mohd Saif, who had been arrested from the encounter site. Two other suspects, Shehzad alias Pappu and Junaid had managed to give police the slip and are still at large.
“Mohd Saif and Sajid went to Karnataka and brought 10 bombs to Delhi by train two or three days before the start of Ramzan. One bomb was detected to be faulty at the last moment and was not planted,” Karnal Singh said. The bombs were ready to use and the terrorists here only set the timers. The police are yet to recover the faulty bomb.
“They have thrown it in a drain near Batla House (in Jamia Nagar). Then there is a live bomb somewhere near the Regal cinema hall (in Connaught Place) but we haven’t recovered that too.”
The Delhi police lost its highly decorated officer, Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, in the encounter. Sharma received three bullet injuries and succumbed later at the Holy Family Hospital.
Late Friday night, the police arrested another suspected militant Zeeshan Ahmed, who reportedly shared the flat with Atif and the other five suspects but was not at home when the encounter took place. Zeeshan was arrested from Jhandewala area in central Delhi shortly after he gave an interview to a television channel, claiming that he had no knowledge about the blasts.
“From Saif’s interrogation and the information gathered from Atif’s laptop, we found that IM was responsible for all terror strikes over the last one year. Atif was inspired by the Al Qaeda and a lot of material about Al Qaeda has been found in his laptop along with several photographs of Osama bin Laden,” Karnal Singh said.
He said Atif worked in close tandem with Tauqeer, a front leader of SIMI, whose whereabouts are still not known. Atif and his men would conduct a recce of the blast spots a few days before the planned explosions. After carrying out the strikes, they would return to Delhi and plan their next attack.
Singh said Saif and Zeeshan had not only confessed to their involvement in the Delhi blasts but also gave vital information about the other terrorists who are still absconding.
Saif also informed the police about the bomb planters in the various terror strikes.
“According to Saif, Atif and Junaid (still at large) had planted the bombs in Greater Kailash’s M-Block market. Sajid (killed in Friday’s encounter) and Zeeshan planted the bombs at Barakhamba Road. One Shadab alias Malik and Shehzad Pappu (both absconding) planted the bombs at Children’s Park in India Gate while one Shakeel (also absconding) planted the Gaffar Market bomb. Sajid himself had planted a bomb at Regal Cinema in Connaught Place while another militant, also named Sajid (absconding) planted the Central Park bomb,” said Singh.
The special cell is now on the lookout for eight more IM terrorists who had reportedly come to Delhi with Atif when Atif returned from Ahmedabad after conducting the blasts there. The police have asked central intelligence agencies and police of various states to be on the lookout for these terrorists. The cops are particularly concerned about one Sajid, who is at large. According to Saif, Sajid was the main bomb maker of IM.
Sleuths of the Delhi police’s special cell presented Saif and Zeeshan in a local court on Saturday. The two were charged with engaging in a conspiracy to carry out an act of terrorism and sent to police custody for 14 days.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kanwaljeet Arora, while sending the suspects to police custody, said that the two must be produced in court again on October 4.
Arguing the case, public persecutor Rajiv Mohan said that during police interrogation, both the alleged terrorists disclosed that 10 others were involved in the September 13 Delhi blasts and urged the court that further interrogation was required to unearth their plans and arrest the rest of the terrorists involved in the bombings.
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