2 explosives `suppliers' in ATS custody

13/7 BLASTS -





Mumbai: The state's anti-terrorism squad has secured the custody of two people suspected to have provided explosives that were used in the July 13, 2011 triple bomb blasts that killed 27 in the city.
Those taken into custody include Dr Sayyed Ismail Lanka (36) and Saddam Hussain Khan (28), both from Karnataka. They were first arrested by Bengaluru police, in a terror case last month.

State ATS chief Himanshu Roy said, “The two accused provided explosive material and detonators to Ahmed Siddibapa alias Yaseen Bhatkal, Akhtar Hussain alias Haddi and Waqqas Saad on several ocassions.“
Roy added that prior to the blasts, Waqqas and Akhtar had gone to Karnataka to collect the explosives from Lanka and Khan. “Their interrogation will help establish the source from where the duo got the explosives,“ said Roy .
The ATS has so far arrested several accused in the 137 blast cases. Those behind bars in this case include Indian Mujahideen's (IM) suspected Indian chief, Yaseen Bhatkal.

--Mateen Hafeez 


The Times of India, March 31, 2015





Yasin Bhatkal is now an accused in 13/7

Mateen Hafeez TNN





Mumbai: The Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad (ATS) on Monday filed a 542-page chargesheet against Yasin Bhatkal, the alleged India chief of banned outfit Indian Mujahideen, and his aide Asadullah Akhtar, alias Tabrez, before a special MCOCA court.
 

The two have been accused of planning and executing the 13/7 blasts, which killed 27 people and injured 127 on July 13, 2011.
The police had earlier filed chargesheets against five men in the case. “Since Yasin and his aide were arrested in the later stages, we filed a supplementary chargesheet against them,“ said an ATS officer. The two were arrested on August 29, 2013, by the NIA and the Bihar police on the Indo-Nepal border.

The ATS took them in custo dy on February 5 this year.

The supplementary chargesheet states that it was Bhatkal who assembled the three 13/7 bombs with the other accused and even went to plant them. “After planting the bombs, he fled the city ,“ the chargesheet states. The RDX bombs exploded at Zaveri Bazar, Opera House and near the Dadar railway station in the evening. The charges against the accused include murder, attempt to murder, damage to public and private property, and being a part of a terror outfit. If the charges are proved, they may get the death penalty. In the chargesheet, the police have disclosed the role of a new accused, Wasim, alias Ibrahim, who is still wanted.

“The arrested and the wanted accused formed an organized crime syndicate to promote insurgency , thereby causing three bomb blasts at three locations.

There is sufficient evidence on record to prosecute the accused,“ said the chargesheet.
The ATS said that Rs 10 lakh was sent from Dubai to Delhi to one of the accused, Kanwanain Pathrija, through hawala channels.

The money was later given to Bhatkal and used for the blasts, as per the chargesheet. It also said that Yasin and Tabrez had planned to blow up a police van in Dadar, but did not have the time to plant the bomb, which was dumped in a dustbin.

IM's suspected chief Riyaz Bhatkal and his brother Iqbal are both believed to be in Pakistan. Their Indian operations are believed to be led by Yasin, who is suspected to be involved in over 40 terror cases.

The Times of India, June 17, 2014

In ’11, Bhatkal gave Chennai police the slip by 30 minutes

Could Spot Cops As They Were In Uniform

 

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: As a possible Indian Mujahideen (IM) angle is discussed in last week’s Chennai train blasts, security agencies rue the day in 2011 that the now-arrested Yasin Bhatkal slipped through a dragnet in the Tamil Nadu capital and reportedly went on to wreak more havoc. 

    On November 27, 2011, IM chief Bhatkal gave the Chennai police the slip after seeing uniformed officers around a house on Pilayar Koil Street in Selaiyur. He fled just a halfhour before the police raided the house, which was rented by Bhatkal’s father-in-law, Irashad Khan, who was arrested from the hideout.
 

    Teams from the Delhi special cell, Chennai police and Intelligence Bureau arrived at the house after getting information that Bhatkal had landed in Chennai.  The Delhi police had sought help from their Chennai counterparts to nab Bhatkal, who had arrived in that city three days before. 

    “The deployment of Chennai police’s men in uniform spoiled the operation,” a source said.
    Bhatkal, returning from the local market, spotted some uniformed policemen and barricades in the lane and suspected the police had come for him. Not wasting a minute, Bhatkal escaped.
 

    Since then, IM presence in Tamil Nadu was said to be thin. “After the arrest of Irashad Khan and several others in 2011, IM was not found in any incident in TN,” a source said.
 

    The Chennai police found that material recovered from Thursday’s train blasts site was similar to that found in Patna after bomb blasts there, and it seems that security agencies are focusing on an IM angle in the explosions that killed a person.
 

    “The pattern of the train blasts, the material seized, the timer device and the make of the bombs are under scrutiny and there are possibilities of some more hideouts of the IM not known to police.”
 

    It is learnt that the IM presence in Chennai is limited to sleeper cells in Coimbatore, Melapalayam in Tirunelveli district and a few other places, because of the active presence of another banned outfit, Al-Ummah, in Tamil Nadu.
 

    “There is a possibility that operatives of the two outfits might be trying to come under one umbrella, but it’s too early to say whose handiwork the blasts were,” a security establishment source said.  Bhatkal was finally arrested along with an aide, Asadullah Akhtar alias Haddi, in a joint operation of the Bihar police and the Intelligence Bureau on August 29 last year.

The Times of India, May 6, 2014

‘IM bomber was given job to shift Bhatkal’s wife to Nepal’

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: Indian Mujahideen’s (IM) bomber, Tahseen Akhtar alias Monu, told his interrogators that he was entrusted with the job of shifting Zahida Khanum, wife of IM’s Indian chief Yasin Bhatkal, from Delhi to Nepal in the last week of August 2013. However, the plan did not materialize since Bhatkal himself was arrested on August 29 on the Indo-Nepal border and subsequently brought to Delhi.
 

    Bihar resident Monu (33), who was arrested by the Delhi Police’s special cell recently, is suspected to have planted bombs in the city on July 13, 2011 causing serial blasts. Besides, his involvement in Hyderabad , and Pune’s J M Road blasts is also being examined. 

    Investigators found that Bhatkal had planned with his Pakistan-based mentor Riyaz Bhaktal and others to smuggle his wife from south Delhi’s Abul Fazal Enclave to Nepal where he was hiding. He wanted to shift his wife to Nepal to avoid police harassment as he had planned to carry out further terror strikes in India. 

 
    Initially they suggested the name of Pakistani national Waqqas alias Ziy-ur-Rehman, but Riyaz rejected it. Later, they zeroed in on Monu who knew Delhi well and was suitable for this job. “Initially it was planned that Khanum would be brought to my village in Samastipur, Bihar, by one of her four brothers, and from here I will take her to another place to send her to Nepal,” Monu is believed to have told the investigators.
 

    It was also decided that one extra person would also be there to keep a watch on others and would alert the ‘smugglers’ in case of eventuality.  Akhtar had met Khanum on August 25 and handed her over Rs one lakh and a dual SIM mobile phone. The NIA during its probe recovered the mobile phone and Rs 99,500 from Khanum.
 

‘Haider Ali told to head India module’

F ollowing arrest, Riyaz Tehseen Bhatkal Akhtar had ’s asked ‘Black Beauty’ (Haider Ali alias Abdullah) to head IM’s India module, sources in the security establishment said. This information came to light after the security agencies intercepted some phones reportedly being used by terror suspects across the border. TNN 

 

The Times of India, April 1, 2014

IM’s India chief had refused to surrender

NOTORIOUS FOUR: All the 4 in the poster is in prison now

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: Banned outfit Indian Mujahideen’s (IM) youngest operative and believed to be its current chief in India, Tehsin Akhtar alias Monu had rejected the police’s offer to surrender saying he was not a misguided youth and believed in what he was doing. Tehsin was arrested by the Delhi special cell on Tuesday. 

    Sources said following the arrest of IM’s Yasin Bhatkal in August last year, Tehsin was considered as his replacement in the outfit. But, according to the police, in no case was it found that any of the instructions came from him.
   

 Son of a businessman in Samastipur, Bihar, Tehsin studied in a local school there till Class IV and then shifted to Mumbai with his father. Here, he lived with his aunt at Mumbra where he remained till Class X. “In Mumbra, when we were inquiring about him, people remembered him as a decent boy,” said an ATS officer who probed the 13/7 triple blasts in which Tehsin is suspected to have planted a bomb. “On July 13, he and Yasin Bhatkal planned to place a bomb under a police van at Dadar to kill cops. The first bomb was already planted atop a bus stop in Dadar. But when the duo returned to the police van, it had moved to another spot and they had to throw the bomb in a dustbin,” the police said. Failing to trace Tehsin, the state ATS issued a poster, carrying his photograph, besides that of three others who were suspected to be behind the attack. The ATS also announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for information on him.
   

 Tehsin reportedly came in touch with IM operatives in 2008, said the police. According to the police, Tehsin initially worked as a conduit in the outfit. On instructions from IM chief Riyaz Bhatkal, Tehsin in 2010 smuggled Pakistani outfit member Ajmal-—who was lodged somewhere in India—to Nepal, from where the latter could sneak back to Pakistan. At Kathmandu in Nepal, Tehsin met another Pakistani national, Ziya-ur-Rehman alias Waqas, and Asadullah Akhtar alias Tabrez, and reportedly brought them to Samastipur in September that year. The three were received by Yasin, who had taken up a house there, the police said.
   

 According to the police, on January 1, 2011, Tehsin’s father Waseem confronted him about living with the “other boys”. Waseem dragged Tehsin away, threatening to call the police if the others met him. But that did little to dissuade Tehsin. “In July 2013, Tehsin came to Mumbai and lived with his Mumbra relatives. They were unaware of his plan and link with the IM,” police said. 

 

 ‘NOT A MISGUIDED YOUTH’
YOUNGEST MEMBER Tahseen Waseem Akhtar
alias Shaikh Sahab alias Monu (23) was born in Samastipur, Bihar. He studied in a local school till Class IV and moved to Mumbai with his father. He lived with his aunt at Mumbra and studied in a private school till Class X. Later, he returned to Samastipur and completed an engineering diploma course. In 2008, he
 

TERROR LINK 13/7 triple blasts in Mum | He is a suspected conspirator and along with IM chief Yasin Bhatkal, he planted a bomb at Dadar
2012 Pune J M Road blast | Chargesheet shows him as a bomb planter
2013 Hyderabad twin blasts | Allegedly arranged explosives and helped make improvised explosive devices. He hatched the blast plot at the behest of IM top functionary Riyaz Bhatkal
July 2013 Gaya blast | Also played a role in the Gaya serial bomb blasts but no one was injured in it came in touch with IM members. He is believed to be the youngest IM member
 

WHILE ON THE RUN
    After the triple blasts in Mumbai in July, 2011, Tahseen stayed in the city for a week and then returned to his Samastipur home. In Nov-Dec that year, he took refuge in Patna and then in Ranchi. In August 2012, he arrived in Pune to execute the serial blasts there and then returned to Ranchi where he rented a house, posing as a Hindu boy. The next month, he moved to Karnataka and hired a flat at Hammpankatta near Mangalore. Near the end of the year, he fled to Nepal. In February 2013, Riyaz Bhatkal sent Tahseen to India where he participated in the blasts at Dilsukhnagar in Hyderabad and stayed put there

The Times of India, March 26, 2014

IM operative was in Mumbai before heading for Rajasthan

Delhi Police, Who Arrested Waqas, Won’t Say Why

 

Mateen Hafeez TNN

    Suspected Indian Mujahideen operative Waqas Saad Shaikh, who was arrested by the Delhi police’s special cell in Jaipur on Saturday, had stayed for three days at a lodge in Bandra (West) before leaving for Rajasthan. The Delhi police has been reluctant to speak about why the terror suspect was in Mumbai.
 

    Sources in the Delhi police’s special cell said that before coming to Mumbai, Waqas had been hiding in a safe house in Kerala for some time. “He took a train from Kerala to Mumbai, planning to go to Ajmer. We are interrogating him,” said special cell commissioner S M Srivastava.
 

    In the past, the cell arrested several terror suspects who were initially named as wanted by the Maharashtra police. The suspects include Zabihuddin Ansari, alias Abu Jundal, the handler of the 26/11 terrorists, and 13/7 bomb planters and IM operatives Yasin Bhatkal and Asadullah Akhtar, alias Tabrez.
 

    Was Waqas planning to help Bhatkal escape from police custody in Mumbai? Srivastava said, “Till now, it has not come up in the interrogation.” The special cell is likely to give Maharashtra’s anti-terrorism squad (ATS) the address of the Bandra lodge where Waqas stayed so that witnesses’ statements can be recorded.
 

    Meanwhile, ATS chief Himanshu Roy has said that the squad will get a warrant from a Mumbai court to get Waqas’s custody for the July 2011 triple blasts, in which 27 people were killed. Bhatkal and Tabrez are in ATS custody. The three, before and after the 13/7 blasts, stayed at Habib Mansion in Byculla. They rented a room on the third floor of the building for Rs 8,000 and made IEDs.
 

    Sources in the security establishment said Waqas’s facial and physical similarity with absconding IM operative Aariz Junaid Khan had delayed his arrest. “The police wanted to be sure before picking up Waqas and so they used technology to verify the suspect as Waqas,” said a source.
 

    Khan, an Azamgarh resident, and several IM operatives were named in an FIR filed by the National Investigation Agency in June 2012. The same year, Khan’s photograph was identified as Waqas’s by a witnesses in Darbhanga, where Waqas had spent some time. “The confusion may have been due to their similar looks. This was one of the reasons the initial poster, issued by the NIA, on 12 wanted IM operatives did not carry Waqas’s photograph,” a source said.
 

WAQAS’S TERROR TRAIL

WAQAS SAAD SHAIKH, ALIAS JAVED, ALIAS MOTA BHAI, A NATIVE OF PAKISTAN’S PROVINCE, IS AMONG THE MOST ACTIVE MEMBERS OF INDIAN MUJAHIDEEN. HE TRAVELLED ACROSS INDIA IN SEARCH OF TERROR TARGETS 

 

 1 SEP 2010 | Waqas arrived in India via Kathmandu, along with Indian Mujahideen member Asadullah Akhtar, alias Tabrez. A week after their arrival to Samastipur, Bihar, IM co-founder Yasin Bhatkal briefed them about a plan to gun down foreigners in Delhi’s Jama Masjid. Waqas carried out the attack on September 19 

 2 DEC 7, 2010 | Waqas planted a bomb at Sheetalghat in Varansasi, to mark the demolition of Babri Masjid and to protest against the Allahabad high court’s order on the issue. At the time, his base of operations was Bihar  

3 JAN 2011 | Waqas and Tabrez arrived in Mumbai and rented a room in Habib Mansion, Byculla. In April, he was admitted to JJ Hospital for an eye problem  

4 JULY 2011 Waqas went to Mangalore to collect explosives. He assembled four bombs and planted one at Zaveri Bazaar, Mumbai, on July 13  

5 FEB 21, 2013 | Waqas and Tabrez planted bombs in Dilsukhnagar, Hyderabad. Tabrez left for Samastipur, Waqas stayed in a safe house in Karnataka 

 6 NOV 2013 Delhi police busted an alleged Indian Mujahideen module. Waqas escaped to Goa and stayed at Anuja beach in Madgaon  

7 MAR 22, 2014 Delhi police claimed to have arrested Waqas at Jaipur railway station. He was on his way to Mumbai 

 

CASES WHERE WAQAS IS WANTED

July 2011 Mumbai triple blasts, in which 27 people died 

August 2012 Pune blasts, in which one person was injured. Six bombs were planted on J M Road September 2010 Delhi Jama Masjid firing, in which two foreigners were injured and a policeman died 

December 2010 blast at Sheetalghat, Varanasi, in which 15 were injured  

February 2013 Hyderabad twin blasts

 

 

The Times of India, March 25, 2014

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

‘IM got hawala money for 13/7 blasts’

ATS PROBING PUNE ANGLE

 

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: The state anti-terrorism squad (ATS) suspects that the money required to orchestrate the 13/7 Mumbai blasts was sent to Indian Mujahideen (IM) operatives through the hawala route and it came through Pune. A tobacco firm’s owner, whose dispute with a rival was settled in Karachi a few years ago, is also under the scanner, said sources in the security establishment.
 

    The ATS, which is probing the 2011 triple bomb blasts case, is desperately looking for a suspect, identified as Ibrahim. He worked at a real estate firm’s office in Pune. The investigators are now zeroing in on this construction firm suspecting its close association with a tobacco manufacturing firm, whose top official was in the news a few years ago due to his Karachi visit and his alleged meeting with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.
 

    Agencies like NIA, Delhi Police’s special cell and state ATS tried to approach the proprietor of the firm. However, “because of his clout” the man is still out of the radar, sources claimed.
 

    Ibrahim is suspected to have channeled hawala money to IM operatives on three occasions—during the planning and execution of the 2008 Gujarat bomb blasts, during the Pune German Bakery bomb blast and the 13/7 Mumbai bomb blasts. These explosions collectively killed 104 people.
 

    “One of the accused, Muzaffar Kola (68), who is suffering from cancer, is from Karnataka. Kola has links with this tobacco manufacturer. The money used in 13/7 was channeled to Delhi and then to Mumbai through Kola’s UAE-based firm, Kola Enterprises. Ibrahim who was then working in the construction firm also received some money. The relation between Kola and the construction firm owner prompted us to probe the matter further,” said an officer.
 

    “Kola’s old association with the tobacco manufacturer cannot be ignored. We are still working on it.” While the police claimed to have found evidence of Ibrahim’s involvement in the hawala transactions, they also suspect that he might have transported explosives in the past for the IM. “Several things about Ibrahim has emerged during the interrogation of IM top functionary, Ahmed Siddibapa alias Yasin Bhatkal,” the officer added. 

    IM’s suspected co-founder, Yasin Bhatkal, who was in ATS custody, also admitted that he knew Ibrahim.
 

    “After recording statements of several accused and witnesses in this case, we realized that Ibrahim is the main link and if he had been working for several years, there might have been some support pillars. We are trying to collect evidence against the culprits,” the source added. Bhatkal, along with his associate Asadullah Akhtar is in Thane jail.

The Times of India, March 11, 2014

If released, will again trigger blasts across India: Bhatkal tells cops

Yasin Bhatkal

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: Suspected Indian Mujahideen (IM) co-founder Yasin Bhatkal (33) seems unrepentant. Bhatkal told cops during interrogation that if released, he would again set off bombs across the country, and that he did not regret what he did.
 

    Once termed India’s Osama bin Laden, he faces charges of murder, attempt to murder, waging war against the Government of India and being the member of a banned organization.
 

    He spoke of his threat when told that he could be hanged for his crimes.
 

    Born and brought up in a well-to-do family in Karnataka’s Bhatkal town, he was said to have been arrested from the Indo-Nepal border on August 28 last year, after being on the run for almost eight years. The Indian police blamed him for the 2007 Uttar Pradesh court blasts, 2008 New Delhi bomb blasts, 2008 Gujarat serial blasts, 2008 Jaipur blast, 2010 German Bakery blast in Pune and Mumbai’s July 13, 2011 blasts.
 

    A stickler for cleanliness, Bhatkal faced trouble from an expected quarter: Mosquitoes at the Bhoiwada lock-up, where the state antiterrorism squad (ATS) had kept him for interrogation for 22 days in February. The cells were guarded by more than a dozen AK-47-weilding personnel, and the premises monitored by video cameras. There was no fan in his cell and Bhatkal used a common toilet. Though two bedsheets were given to him, he used one as a pillow.
 

    Even senior police officers could enter the premises only with prior intimation to the bosses.
 

    Bhatkal always maintained his schedule during interrogation: He woke up at 6am, bathed daily, changed clothes and went to sleep at 11pm. An officer said, “He is one of the most introverted and intelligent terror suspect interrogated so far. He can speak Nepalese, Nawayathi (used in Bhatkal), Urdu, Hindi, English, and Kannada.” 

    While on the run, Bhatkal married Zahira from Okhla, an industrial suburb of New Delhi. When policemen asked him if he had thought of what would happen to his wife after his arrest, he said, “Jo Allah ki marzi hai, woh hoga.”
 

A stickler for cleanliness, Bhatkal faced trouble from an expected quarter: Mosquitoes at the Bhoiwada lockup, where the ATS had kept him for interrogation for 22 days in February. The cells were guarded by more than a dozen AK-47-weilding personnel, and the premises monitored by video cameras

The Times of India, March 5, 2014

Bhatkal, aide’s confessions to be noted under MCOCA

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: Suspected 13/7 bombers and Indian Mujahideen operatives Yasin Bhatkal and Asadullah Akhtar alias Tabrez were brought to the city crime branch headquarters late on Friday for recording of their confessional statements before the deputy commissioners of police. 

    Bhatkal has been lodged in the same lock-up at the crime branch’s two-storey building where Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab and 26/11 handler Abu Jundal had been kept. 

    So far, Bhatkal and Tabrez were in the custody of the state anti-terrorism squad for their suspected roles in the July 13, 2011, blasts at Zaveri Bazaar, Opera House and near Dadar station. The blasts had killed 27 people. 

    “The duo has been brought to the police headquarters and their confessional statements will be recorded before officers of the rank of deputy commissioner under the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act,” said an officer. Such confessions are treated as evidence against the accused. But in most cases, accused retract the statements.
 

    The crime branch lockup has in the past housed actor Sanjay Dutt during the 1993 blasts investigation, film financier Bharat Shah and actor Salman Khan.
 

    Bhatkal and Tabrez will be produced before DCPrank officers within a day and two. As a procedure, the officers will ask them if they want to give confessional statement. The statement should be taken after their consent, the law says.
 

    Tabrez is accused of planting an explosive at Opera House, while Bhatkal is suspected to have planted the Dadar bomb. Both were first caught by the Bihar police in August reportedly from the India-Nepal border. Bhatkal faces over two dozen terror cases. 

 

The Times of India, February 23, 2014

13/7 investigations find Pune hawala operator-IM link

Yasin Bhatkal

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: The name of a Pune hawala operator cropped up during the investigations into the 13/7 triple blasts that killed 27 people, sources in the state anti-terrorism squad (ATS) said. 

    They told TOI that the suspect, identified as Ibrahim, had been sending money to Indian Mujahideen’s suspected co-founder and 13/7 bomb planter, Ahmed Zarar Siddibapa, alias Yasin Bhatkal.
 

    “Bhatkal received Rs 10 lakh through a Delhi-based hawala operator, Kanwarnain Pathreja. This money had come to him from the UAE to execute the bombings. Later, whenever he required money, Ibrahim would send him the amount from Pune. The IM members would also send money to Ibrahim from abroad, who in turn would finance Bhaktal’s alleged activities,” said an ATS source. This revelation has come to light for the first time since Bhatkal’s arrest in August 2013 by Bihar police.
 

    Bhaktal and his associate Asadullah Akhtar, alias Haddi, alias Tabrez—both of whom are in ATS custody—were produced in a court in Arthur Road jail on Tuesday and remanded in police custody till February 28. The duo are facing charges of murder and having links to IM, a banned organization. On July 13, 2011, three blasts —at Zaveri Bazaar, Opera House and Dadar—had killed 27 and injured 126 others. Till date, seven people have been arrested in this case.
 

    During interrogation, the ATS has also found a place, which Bhatkal allegedly used as hideout.     “There is a room in Pydhonie, known as as Siddibapa Kholi, which Bhatkal used as hideout. While he arranged accommodation for his accomplices and bombers—Tabrez and Pakistani national Waqqas—at Byculla’s Habib Manzil, he would not stay there. He would be shuttling between Mumbai and other cities,” said a source. Siddibapa Kholi is owned by a group of people from Karnataka, providing temporary shelter to those coming from that state to Mumbai seeking job or medical treatment.

The Times of India, February 19, 2014

IPL matches were on IM radar: ATS

13/7 BLASTS PROBE

 

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: Investigations into 13/7 triple blasts have revealed that two bombers, including suspected Pakistani national Waqqas, had recceed Wankhede stadium in south Mumbai during the 2011 IPL matches. But they could not carry out the plan in or around the stadium due to multi-layer police security. 

    Sources in the state anti-terrorism squad (ATS) said arrested Indian Mujahideen (IM) suspect Asadullah Akhtar alias Haddi alias Tabrez told the police about the two reccees in 2011.
    “On April 20, 2011, Waqqas bought a ticket for the IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Pune Warriors. He recceed the stadium and found tight security. Two days later, Waqqas and Tabrez recceed the stadium gates during the match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. But due to heavy police deployment, they dropped the plan to target the stadium,” said Rakesh Maria, ATS chief. 

    On July 13, 2011, three blasts ripped through Opera House, Zaveri Bazaar and Kabutarkhana in Dadar, killing 27.  An officer said on the day of the blasts, IM senior functionary Yasin Bhatkal and wanted accused Tahseen Shaikha alias Monu, who planted the bomb at Kabutarkhana, took a cab from Dadar to Kurla station and then boarded a train to Kasara. “From Kasara they took a train to Nashik, and then went to Bihar. They got the news of the blasts while travelling,” he said. 

 
    The police said Tabrez fled from India in 2008, after the Batla House encounter in Delhi. “Tabrez escaped to Bangladesh and from there went to Dubai and later to Karachi. There he was trained by the Lashkar-e-Taiba in 2009, and met Waqqas through Riyaz. Waqqas and Tabrez crossed over the border in August 2010,” said the officer.
 

    Prior to the 13/7 blasts, Yasin, Waqqas and Tabrez had also recceed beaches in Goa, said the ATS. Waqqas and Tabrez had arrived in Mumbai in February 2011, while Yasin had already arranged a flat for them at Byculla a fortnight ago. 

 

The Times of India, February 12,2014

IM recced eatery where it was named for a blast

The busy fast food outlet outside Andheri station (west) that was targeted

Scared Away By CCTVs & Police Presence 

 

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: The Indian Mujahideen (IM) planned to blow up the eatery in Andheri where its name had been decided in 2008, but was discouraged by the CCTVs and security, said state anti-terrorism squad sleuths.
 

    IM top operative Yasin Bhatkal and his accomplice Asadullah Akhtar alias Tabrez, who were caught in Nepal last year, have been brought to Maharashtra for investigation into their alleged role in the 13/7 blasts at Zaveri Bazaar, Opera House and a Dadar bus stand that killed 27.
 

    “During interrogation, Ahmed Zarar Siddibapa alias Yasin Bhatkal told us that he and his accomplices had recced the McDonald’s Andheri outlet twice with a terror attack on their mind because the place is always crowded. Bhatkal had sent a list of ‘possible targets’ to his mentor and wanted accused, Riyaz Bhatkal, for his approval,” said a source in the security establishment.
 

    The fast food outlet outside Andheri station (west) is not just any other eatery for the IM.
 

    Sadique Shaikh, another IM operative in jail for sending terror emails in 2008, had in a confessional statement before the crime branch said the name Indian Mujahideen was decided at a meeting at the McDonald’s outlet where he, Riyaz Bhatkal, Arif Badar (arrested) and Atif Ameen (killed in the 2008 Batla House encounter in Delhi) were present.
 

    It was some time before the July 2008 Gujarat blasts. “Riyaz and the others discussed that they were not getting enough publicity despite triggering blasts and decided their organization needed branding. They first thought of Asaaba and then Al-Furqan. But both names were difficult to understand and, so, they finally zeroed in on Indian Mujahideen,” said a police officer. At the same meeting, they decided to send emails before and after the blasts to claim responsibility.
 

    Before the July 13, 2011, triple blasts, IM operatives visited McDonald’s but decided against an attack. “The most difficult hurdles for them were CCTV cameras, police bandobast outside the station and a place to keep the bomb since citizens were more alert. This forced them to drop the plan,” said the officer.
 

    Bhatkal, in the ATS interrogation, said he and his accomplices Naqui Ahmed, Tabrez and wanted accused Tahseen Akhtar alias Monu surveyed the Colaba market which many foreigners visit, the ATS office at Nagpada, the state transport bus station at Dadar (east), Gol Deol near Nagpada, Mumbadevi temple, the McDonald’s at Andheri, Juhu beach, the police commissioner’s and director general of police’s offices.

The Times of India, February 11, 2014

Bhatkal and aides planned RDX blasts in wake of 13/7

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: The interrogation of 13/7 suspects Yasin Bhatkal and Asadullah Akhtar alias Tabrez has revealed that after killing 27 in the triple blasts, the accused went on to procure 4 kg of explosives containing RDX for more terror strikes. 

    The suspects abandoned their plan to cause more explosions after the arrest of more than a dozen Indian Mujahideen members by the Delhi police.  It was reported on May 2, 2012, that RDX was present in the Habib Manzil flat in Byculla where the bombers had stayed before and after the July 13, 2011, blasts at Dadar, Opera House and Zaveri Bazar. 

    When the police got to the flat, the RDX traces there had confounded them as none of the three blasts had been the caused by that particular explosive substance.  Now, the revelation from the interrogation of Bhatkal and Tabrez has explained how the RDX traces were found at the hideout.
 

    Additional director general of police (ATS) Rakesh Maria said a second consignment of about 4 kg containing ammonium nitrate and RDX was procured by the suspects. “We had found traces of some suspicious powder-like substance in Habib Manzil during a search and forensic analyzers stated it was RDX,” the officer said on Sunday.
 

    The missing RDX is yet to be found. The first consignment of explosives, 4 to 5 kg in weight, was delivered to the bombers a few days before July 13, 2011, and was used in assembling the improvised explosive devices used in the blasts.
 

    Police sources said Bhatkal had arranged for the flat in Habib Manzil for the two other terrorists, Tabrez and the still-wanted Waqqas, for a monthly rent of Rs 10,000.  “We have discovered the identity of the carrier who delivered the two consignments in Karnataka,” an ATS official said. 

    After the blasts, a chemical analysis showed the bombs were a cocktail of TNT, ammonium nitrate and petroleum hydrocarbons. The report said TNT was the main explosive and RDX was not used in the bombs. 

 

Bombers left for eatery to watch TV  

Police sources say 13/7 bombers Yasin Bhatkal, Asadullah Akhtar alias Tabrez and Waqqas did not have a TV set at their rented flat. The sources say that after planting the bombs the accused first went to the flat and then to a nearby restaurant to watch the news of the serial blasts on TV. They say an hour before the blasts, Bhatkal went to a cybercafe and contacted his mentor and IM founder Riyaz Bhatkal over the internet and informed him the work had “got done”. The sources say that Riyaz congratulated Yasin, promising more money for further operations. At night, Yasin Bhatkal left the city. TNN 

 

 

The Times of India, February 10, 2014

ATS: 13/7 accused wanted to blow up cop van in Dadar

Yasin Bhatkal and his associates surveyed many areas in the city

 

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: The state anti-terrorism squad (ATS), probing the 13/7 bomb blasts in the city, said explosives were kept in four pressure cookers and the accused had initially decided to blow up a police van near Dadar railway station. When the suspects arrived to plant the bomb, the police van had, however, moved, thus saving several lives. Explosives used in the bombs were brought in from Mangalore in Karnataka, the ATS claimed.
 

    This was disclosed during the interrogation of bombers, Ahmed Zarar Siddibappa alias Yasin Bhatkal and Asadullah Akhtar alias Haddi alias Tabrez. “Tabrez and a wanted accused, Waqqas Saad Shaikh (a suspected Pakistani), collected around 7kg explosive from outside A J Hospital in Mangalore. The consignment was arranged by Indian Mujahideen (IM) founder Riyaz Bhaktal, who is suspected to have been running the terror module from Pakistan.
 

    Waqqas and Tabrez returned by a luxury bus the same day, after collecting the explosives, a week before the blasts,” an ATS officer said. ATS chief Rakesh Maria said the cops were busy with interrogation and were collecting evidence. 

    “Two pressure cookers were purchased from Pydhonie and two from Grant Road. Other material, like timers, transistors, arrow boards, batteries and a soldering machine were also bought here,” an investigator said. Bhatkal, along with a wanted accused, Tahseen Shaikh alias Monu, wanted to plant a bomb under the police van but Monu reached late. They first planted a bomb at a bus-stop in Dadar and another was dumped in a dustbin near the flower market. Two bombs were planted near Opera House and Zaveri Bazar. All bombs, except the one in the dustbin, exploded, killing 27 and injuring 126 on July 13, 2011. Seven persons have been arrested in this case.
 

    Bhatkal, his accomplices Naqui Ahmed, Tabrez and Monu, also surveyed Colaba market, which many foreigners visit, the ATS office in Nagpada, the state transport bus depot in Dadar (E), Gol Deol, near Nagpada, Mumbadevi temple, the McDonald outlet outside Andheri railway station (W), Juhu beach, the police commissioner’s office and directorgeneral of police’s office.

The Times of India, February 8, 2014

Cops to grill Yasin, aide over hawala funds for 13/7 blasts

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: The state anti-terrorism squad took the custody of Indian Mujahideen operative Yasin Bhatkal on Wednesday for his alleged role in the triple blasts that rocked the city on July 13, 2011, claiming the lives of 27 and injuring scores of others. A special MCOCA court remanded him in police custody till February 18.
 

    Bhatkal’s aide, Asadullah Akhtar alias Shakir alias Daniel alias Haddi alias Tabrez, who has also been booked in the same case, was also taken into ATS custody. While seeking their custody, the police focused on two points in court: they intend to find out the source of hawala money sent for the blasts and to establish that Bhatkal (30) was a key IM man whose custodial interrogation was required. 

 
    On July 13, 2011, three bombs exploded at Opera House, Zaveri Bazar and a bus stop in Dadar, killing 27 people and injuring 126. “Though Yasin is wanted in cases dating back to 2008, we first want to question him in the more recent 13/7 blasts as Tabrez is a co-accused. Had we sought Bhatkal’s custody in the 2010 Pune’s German Bakery blast, we would not have got Tabrez’s custody. So we decided to question them where they have common role,” said an ATS officer.
 

    While Bhatkal, with the help of his wanted accomplice Tahseen Shaikh allegedly planted a bomb at the Dadar bus stop, Tabrez left an explosive at Opera House. “On Bhatkal’s instructions, Tabrez and his accomplice Waqqas rented a room in Byculla where they made the bombs and ferried them to the sites on July 13, 2011,” the officer said. The accused had also procured SIM cards using forged documents. “We got the first clue into the blasts case while probing the SIM card fraud,” the officer said.
 

    On Wednesday, defence lawyers argued that since the ATS was conducting a supplementary 

investigation, the accused should be remanded in judicial custody, adding Bhatkal and Tabrez didn’t want to make any confessions to the ATS. But special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told judge Y D Shinde Bhatkal was indeed the key conspirator of the triple blasts and played an important role in procuring explosives and making improvised explosive device (IED). “The court allowed us to handcuff the accused while being transported,” Nikam added. 

 

    Suspected mastermind of the case Riyaz Bhatkal and his brother Iqbal are on the run. 

 

 

The Times of India, February 7, 2014 

ATS to quiz Bhatkal first on 13/7 triple blasts in city

Ahmed Zarar Siddibapa alias Yasin Bhatkal

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: The state anti-terrorism squad, which executed the transfer warrants of suspected Indian Mujahideen founder Ahmed Zarar Siddibapa alias Yasin Bhatkal and his aide Asadullah Akhtar, will grill them first on the 13/7 blasts.

    On July 13, 2011, three bombs exploded at Opera House, Zaveri Bazar and a bus stop in Dadar, claiming 27 lives.   “Though Yasin is wanted in cases that are as old as 2008, we want to question him first in the Opera House and Zaveri Bazar blasts as Akhtar is also a co-accused in these cases. If we sought his custody in the 2010 Pune’s German Bakery blast or terror emails in 2008 Gujarat blasts, we won’t get Akhtar’s custody. Hence, we decided to question them where they have common role,” said a senior ATS officer. 

    While Yasin with the help of his elusive accomplice Tehseen Shaikh allegedly planted a bomb at the Dadar bus stop, Akhtar planted a bomb at Opera House. “Akhtar and his accomplice Tabrez had rented a room in Habib apartment in Byculla after Yasin instructed to stay them there. They made the bombs in this room and ferried them to the sites on July 13, 2011,” the source said. The accused has also got SIM cards for mobile phones using forged documents. “The first tip-off about the bombs came while the ATS was probing the SIM card fraud,” the officer said.
 

    The ATS may keep Yasin in custody for two months for the 13/7 blasts, two SIM card fraud cases, two bike theft cases, 2010 German Bakery blast and conspiracy to bomb Dagdusheth Halwai Ganesh Temple. Then the Mumbai crime branch will secure Yasin’s custody to question him in connection with three emails that were sent before and after the 2008 Gujarat blasts and four car theft cases. The cars were stolen from Navi Mumbai and used in the blasts.

The Times of India, September 13, 2013

‘He identified & motivated new recruits’

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: Yasin Bhatkal, besides his planning and strategising for specific operations, has also been important for the Indian Mujahideen (IM) because of his skills in indoctrination and recruitment of youths. “His most important quality is to identify the potential recruits, motivate them and prepare them for big operations,” said an investigator who had questioned several IM arrested recruits. 

    For instance, Mansoor Peerbhoy, a software engineer, arrested for sending terror emails before and after the July 26, 2008 Ahmedabad and Surat bomb blasts, was not an easy man to be convinced. “However, Yasin who met Peerbhoy as Waseem, motivated him to give up his Rs 19-lakh-per-annum job and follow Yasin’s footsteps,” said the officer.
 

    For 13/7 blasts accused, Naqi Ahmed and Nadeem Akhtar, Yasin was a religious teacher, Maulana Imran. “He used to teach students at a religious structure where the two first met him in 2010. During their meetings, they tried to argue about various things in Islam but were always defeated and convinced by Maulana,” said a Mahrashtra ATS officer.
 

    Yasin’s bigger skill was to identify potential targets. “He would travel a lot. He went to Gujarat, Kolkata, various parts of Karnatka, Chennai, half of Mahrashtra, Delhi, Bihar, Rajasthan, Andhara Pradesh etc,” said investigators.
 

    In 1998, Yasin dropped out from a local school in Bhatkal and joined a religious institution to become an Aalim (an Arabic graduate). There he met the Bhatkal brothers somewhere in 2002. “The trio discussed the Gujarat riots and decided to do something big. Knowing his inclination towards the radical thoughts, his father took him to Dubai. But he soon fled to Pakistan for training,” said a police officer. 

 

The Times of India, August 31, 2013

13/7 aides may face mentor ‘Imran’

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: City police arrested two persons from Darbhanga, Naqi Ahmed and Nadeem Akhtar, for their alleged role in the 13/7 triple Mumbai blasts. They had actually spent time and interacted with the arrested IM co-founder on a day-to-day basis prior to the blasts. Police would, at some stage, bring all three together for interrogation.
 

    State ATS officials said Naqi and Nadeem used to visit a local madrassa in Samastipur where Yasin was a teacher. Nadeem earlier told interrogators that Yasin had introduced himself as Imran.
 

    “He was a learned man who knew many things in and out. We were impressed with him. It was in late 2010 when he asked us to arrange a rented room in Mumbai so that he could come here and complete a course in software certification. Since I stay at Antop Hill in Mumbai and Naqi at Byculla, we spoke to some agents and arranged a room for him,” Nadeem had told police.
 

    Police said that after reaching Mumbai Yasin asked Naqi to get a SIM card for him and two other cards for his two friends on forged documents. Nadeem told police that Yasin was a soft-spoken, polite and intellectual man who had a broad thinking on all the issues especially religion. “He never spoke against any individual and would always give rational answers whenever asked to,” Nadeem is learnt to have to told the police. 

 

Naqi Ahmed
(22) has two leather units, one in Delhi and the other in Byculla. Naqi allegedly stole one of the scooters in which a bomb was planted later

Nadeem Akhtar
(23), an Antop Hill resident, was arrested on January 12, 2012, in the same SIM card forgery case Naqi was booked in. Nadeem is alleged to have ferried explosives from Delhi to Mumbai and stolen one of the scooters 

 

The Times of India, August 31, 2013

13/7 accused seeks discharge

Mumbai: Haroon Rasheed Naik, a prime accused in the 2011 Mumbai blasts that killed 27 people, on Saturday filed an application before the MCOCA court, seeking discharge from the three blast cases.
 

    Naik is accused of sending Rs 10 lakh from Dubai to a Delhibased operator through hawala in 2011. The state ATS has said Naik was trained in Afghanistan, where he met Taliban leader Osama Bin Laden and LeT chief Hafiz Saeed. Advocate Sharif Shaikh filed the plea before judge YD Shinde.— Mateen Hafeez

 

The Times of India, July 21, 2013