13/7 bombers used stolen mobiles, say blast suspects

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: Interrogation of the arrested 13/7 bomb blasts suspects has revealed that the two Pakistanis suspected of having bombed the city on July 13 along with Indian Mujahideen (IM)leader Yasin Bhatkal had been using stolen cellphones. The purpose of using stolen mobiles was to mislead the police. 

    Sources in the ATS said that one of the arrested suspects, Naqi Ahmed (24), said as much during interrogation. “Naqitoldinvestigatorsthat as many as 13 mobile handsets were stolen from Pune, Mumbai and Bihar, and were being used by top members of the Indian Mujahideen,” said an officer. Naqi, along with his accomplice Nadeem Akhtar (22), were first arrested in January for using SIM cards that were procured on faked documents. Later, the duo was booked for the 13/7 blasts. “Naqi further
told policethatthetwoPakistanis, Waqqas and Tabrez, who are suspected to have used six handsets during their stay in Mumbai last year, were given stolen phonesby Bhatkal.
 

    While probing thefake SIM card case, the police recovered 19 cellphones and 114 SIM cards, all procuredon fakedocuments. The ATS had arrested 17 accused and all have been grantedbailin thiscase.
 

    “Since the cellphones were stolen from differentlocations, Ahmed can’t recall the exact make of these phones. We are trying our best to find out the IMEI numbersof these phones totrackthem,but arefinding it difficult,” said an ATS officer.
 

    Police suspect that the stolen phones changed hands several times. “The purpose of this practice was just to keep investigators busy in finding thelocationsof these phonesif they trace the IMEI numbers,” said an officer. 

 

 

The Times of India, May 7, 2012