Indian Mujahideen man had guilt pangs after blasts

Mohammed Sadiq Shaikh, one of the arrested Indian Mujahideen operatives, told the police that the group had orchestrated blasts all over country, including the 2006 serial train blasts in Mumbai.

“After the blasts (2006 train blasts), my twin daughters were born. I read stories about the dead people in newspapers. I felt bad,” Shaikh said in his confession. In October, DCP Vishwas Nangre-Patil recorded his confession in Hindi. And this is admissible in court under MCOCA unless proved involuntary.

Riyaz Bhatkal, Arif Badr, Dr Shahnawaz, and ‘other boys’ were responsible for the 2005 Delhi blasts and Shramjivi Express blasts, the 2006 Varanasi Sankat Mochan temple blasts, and 2006 Mumbai serial train blasts, Shaikh said.

After the train blasts, the group apparently planned blasts in the courtrooms of Lucknow, Gorakhpur and Faizabad in 2008. In June 2008, Shaikh helped the group get timers that were used in the Delhi and Gujarat blasts. The plan to carry out blasts in Surat in September 2008 failed after bombs were found in the city. 

The group apparently used PCOs to communicate with each other. And they always talked in code language. For instance, they referred to the police as ‘mamu or chacha’; the arrested as someone’s in the guest house; explosives as material; bomb blasts as shop’s been opened.

“Amir Raza (co-founder of IM), Bhatkal would send explosives and other materials through other members. Arif Badr would prepare the clock-timer and circuits,” he said.
Shaikh said he had indoctrinated 13 boys from Azamgarh. He himself was trained in Karachi in 2000 by Azam Cheema, an LeT operative.