Waqas planted Zaveri Bazar bomb in 2011

Waqas collected explosives from Mangalore for the 2011 blasts at Zaveri Bazar, Opera House and Dadar, which killed 27 people

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: IM’s Pakistani operative Waqas’s arrest will help the Maharashtra ATS put together the pieces in the July 13, 2011, Mumbai triple blasts and Pune blasts cases. Waqas had also surveyed the Wankhede stadium for a similar operation during the IPL matches. An ATS team left for Delhi on Sunday night.
 

    Investigators found that after being trained by the ISI, arrested IM operative Assadullah Akhtar alias Tabrez, along with Waqas, travelled to India via Nepal around September 2010 to execute terror attacks. In January 2011, Waqas and Tabrez arrived in Mumbai. Tabrez got himself a job with a developer while Waqas alias Javed alias Mota Bhai joined a gym run by a gangster who is a former MLA.
 

    The ATS found that in April 2011, Waqas had surveyed the Wankhede stadium twice during IPL matches but dropped the plan to bomb the venue due to police deployment. 

    According to the ATS, Tabrez and Waqas collected around 7kgs of explosives from outside Mangalore around a week before the Mumbai triple bombings that killed 27. The consignment was arranged by IM founder Riyaz Bhaktal. Waqas had planted the Zaveri Bazar bomb, which alone killed 16. The rest of the casualties were in the Opera house and Dadar blasts.
 

    In October 2011, a second consignment of about 4kgs of ammonium nitrate and RDX was procured by Waqas and Tabrez for fresh strikes. Following the Delhi police special cell’s arrival here and the arrest of IM cadres in the national capital, Waqas escaped to Goa and stayed at Anuja beach in Madgaon. In March 2012, Waqas and Tabrez went to Belgaum and planned to bomb Pune’s J M Road.

 

The Times of India, March 24, 2014