Mohammed Taqi
Taqi’s Brother Had ‘Helped’ Bhatkal With Byculla House
Mateen Hafeez | TNN
Mumbai: Desperate for clues after losing a 13/7 blasts suspect last month, the Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad (ATS) picked up an MBA student from Delhi and detained him for several hours. The student, Mohammed Taqi, is the brother of Mohammed Naqi, who had allegedly arranged accommodation for Indian Mujahideen operative Yasin Bhatkal alias Imran in Mumbai. Naqi is in police custody in a cheating case. Late on Thursday night, the ATS was camping at Taqi’s residence, interrogating him.
The ATS claimed that two bombs were planted by Bhatkal’s accomplices, Waqqas and Tabrez, while the third was planted by Bhatkal himself.
Sources said Taqi was picked up after he addressed a press conference with several civil rights activists in New Delhi on Wednesday. Taqi spoke about the agony and trauma his family had been going through in the last one month since it came to the police notice the Naqi had arranged accommodation for Bhatkal and his two suspected Pakistani accomplices.
Taqi was taken to his Shaeen Baug residence in Delhi, from where the ATS personnel took away a laptop, a memory card and several books. Naqi, whose leather bag unit in Mumbai has become the centre of investigation, faces cheating charges.
“We are probing if Naqi knew Imran’s real identity as Bhatkal,” an ATS officer said, adding that Naqi was under interrogation for over 10 days.
The Delhi police said Waqqas and Tabrez, who were thought to be Pakistanis, could be Indians. “They had permanent account number (PAN) cards issued from Patna and spoke fluent Hindi with a Bihari accent,” sources in the security establishment said. While no arrest has been made in the Mumbai triple blast cases, the ATS officers claim explosives used had been brought from Nepal, but they do not have concrete evidence.
The Maharashtra ATS claimed that before coming to Byculla, Bhatkal stayed in Deora Baudhauli village in Bihar, where he met Naqi. “Bhatkal met Naqi through a local, Qateel Siddiqui, and introduced himself as Imran. Bhatkal told Naqi that he wanted to go to Mumbai and was looking for cheap accommodation for himself and friends. Naqi assured him help. Naqi’s relatives, Mohammed Wasi and Mohammed Rafi, were detained by the ATS last week.
Police personnel posted at Naqi’s leather bag unit in Byculla are not allowing the media to speak to workers there. “We have a court order that no one should be allowed to meet these people. They are our witnesses,” an ATS assistant inspector said.
The Times of India, January 20, 2012
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