Mumbai:  The Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) is likely to question alleged Indian Mujahideen (IM) members in connection with Wednesday’s serial blasts in Mumbai. The ATS is in touch with the police in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Kolkata.
The ATS has sought assistance from Kolkata Police asking them to verify if any Indian Mujahideen suspects had travelled to Mumbai from Kolkata and subsequently went underground after the blasts, as part of its probe into the triple bombings, that left 19 people dead and over 130 injured.
The Special Task Force in Kolkata is looking for city-based Indian Mujahideen member Abdullah aka Nata. Abdullah is believed to be in Pakistan with IM founder Amir Reza Khan, who is also from Kolkata.
Abdullah is also alleged to be involved in the American Center shootout in Kolkata in 2002. He is wanted in the Khadim boss kidnap in 2001, and is also reported to have made some threatening calls to industrialists in Kolkata last year.
Also under scanner is IM’s Karnataka-based operatives Riaz and Iqbal Bhatkal. Last known, they were in Pakistan. They fled to Pakistan after masterminding series of blasts between 2005 and 2007 in Jaipur and Ahmedabad.
The use of IEDs, in Wednesday’s blasts, has many experts looking for a possible Indian Mujahideen (IM) involvement. The IEDs are their signature explosives. But what fuels the theory is that this blast almost coincides with the fifth anniversary of the 2006 Mumbai train blasts, now linked to the terror group.
Sources have told NDTV that remnants of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and fringe elements of IM are under the scanner.
However, preliminary evidence has also raised some questions on the IM’s involvement – the most important being the fact that none of the bombs were expertly planted to maximise impact. In Zaveri Bazaar, the bomb was wrapped in an umbrella and kept face-up on a scooter. The result was though the blast was the most intense of the three, the impact was felt upwards and not on the ground. In Dadar, the bomb was placed on a transformer box next to a tree that bore the maximum brunt.
The owner of the scooter on which the bomb was planted in Zaveri Bazaar has been identified by NDTV.
Bhagchand Jain, the scooter owner, saw the scooter on TV and was able to identify it. Mr Jain’s mother claims that ‘their employee used to take the Activa everyday to the shop.’ They own a mobile shop in Zaveri Bazaar. The mother refuses to say whether the police have questioned her son, but sources say the owner was questioned today but did not emerge as a suspect; he seemed to have no links to any suspect groups.