PATNA/NEW DELHI, Aug 30:
Arrested terrorist Yasin Bhatkal is reported to have told his interrogators that he was living in Nepal for the past six months and had readied around 100 hardcore associates who could do anything at his bidding.
Bhatkal and his close associate Asadullah Akhtar were today remanded in 12-day police custody by a Delhi court after the National Investigation Agency brought them from Bihar where they were arrested yesterday at the Indo-Nepal border.
As Indian Intelligence Agencies mounted their surveillance in the hunt for Bhatkal, sending Rs one lakh home as an ‘eidi’ (gift) to his wife before the Eid festival early this month perhaps proved to be his undoing and gave away the Nepal hideout of one of India’s most wanted terrorists.
The transfer of money done through normal banking channels alerted sleuths of Intelligence Bureau(IB) whose suspicions were aroused on the possible plans by the co-founder of the banned Indian Mujahideen to enter India to indulge in terror attacks or flee from Nepal’s Pokhra area.
Known as a ghost bomber, Yasin, who managed to give the slip to police after the terror attacks in which he was involved, told his interrogators that the money sent to his wife in India was meant for expenses for Eid festivities on August 9.
Sources privy to the probe said Bhatkal told interrogators he was living in Nepal for the past six months and had readied around 100 hardcore associates who could do anything on his orders.
Yasin also told them he used to frequently change residences in Nepal where he treated Muslims as a Unani doctor.
The sources said Yasin got angry on some occasions during interrogation.
Yasin and his associate were remorseless in acknowledging that they carried out bomb blasts to ‘send a message’, according to Motihari SP Vinay Kumar. Yasin is wanted in around 40 terror cases.
“Bomb blast karta hu message dene ke liye (I carry out bomb blasts to send a message),” Yasin was quoted as saying by Kumar, who played a key role in the arrest of the two top IM operatives.
Kumar told reporters the two men expressed no remorse for triggering blasts that killed a large number of people in different cities. Yasin is also reported to have said he had expertise in making IEDs.
Investigators have found a laptop and mobile phone from Yasin’s possession which are expected to throw up vital clues in unraveling a number of terror modules.
The sources said a forged driving licence and a voter ID were also recovered from Yasin who was nabbed by Indian agencies with a “lot of help” from Nepal police.
Earlier, Bhatkal and his close associate Asadullah Akhtar were today remanded to 12-day police custody by a Delhi court after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said their custodial interrogation was required to unearth larger conspiracy of terror attacks.
Both the accused were produced in muffled faces before District Judge I S Mehta and NIA sought their 14-day custody for making recoveries related to the case and getting leads for arrest of other absconding co-accused.
Bhatkal, co-founder of the banned terror outfit, is wanted in around 40 terror cases and carries a reward of Rs.35 lakh. He was arrested from Indo-Nepal border on Wednesday night.
Yasin, who hails from Bhatkal village of Udupi district in North Karnataka, is wanted in a string of terror attacks in Ahmedabad, Surat, Bangalore, Pune, Delhi and Hyderabad.
During today’s proceedings held in-camera, advocate M S Khan, appearing for both the accused, argued that there was no material evidence against them. He also said that one of the accused persons was Mohd Ahmed and not Yasin.
The court, however, allowed NIA’s plea saying, “In these circumstances and looking into contents of the application, I grant police custody to the NIA for 12 days for further investigation.”
NIA, in its remand plea said Mohd Ahmed Siddibappa and Yasin Bhatkal are one and same against whom Non-Bailable Warrant (NBW) was issued by the court.
Bhatkal and Asadullah have been arrested by NIA for conspiring to carry out terror attacks across the country.
“These accused persons are required for custodial interrogation in the case to unearth the larger conspiracy to effect the recoveries and getting leads for arrest of other absconding co-accused persons.
“Both the accused persons are also required to be taken to various places in and outside Delhi for recovery of material evidence,” the NIA said in its remand application.
The court had earlier issued NBWs against Bhatkal, Akhtar and 10 other alleged top IM operatives on July 18 in a case in which five alleged IM operatives were chargesheeted on July 17.
Opposing NIA’s plea, Khan argued that different State agencies are investigating the cases in their own way and NIA is one of them and a newly investigating agency. He also told the court that there is no material against both the accused persons.
The NIA also moved a separate application seeking permission to handcuff both Bhatkal and Akhtar while taking them to different States for further investigation. The plea was allowed by the court.
Bhatkal was among the “principal conspirators” and “executors” of various terror attacks in India, the NIA has said in its charge sheet filed in a Delhi court last month.
30-year-old Bhatkal, who was earlier associated with banned outfit Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), is suspected to have entered into a conspiracy with others to wage war against India.
Bhatkal and Asadullah were among the 12 top IM members listed as absconders in the 42-page charge sheet against arrested accused Mohammad Danish Ansari, Mohammad Aftab Alam, Imran Khan, Syed Maqbool and Obaid-Ur-Rehman under various penal provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the IPC for conspiracy to commit offences against the State.
Regarding Bhatkal’s role, the NIA said that he, along with other conspirators, developed different modules and sleeper cells in Delhi, Darbhanga in Bihar, Nanded, Mumbai, Pune, Bhatkal in Karnataka and Hyderabad.
It also said that Bhatkal had contacted several students of Anjuman Engineering College in Bhatkal to motivate them in the name of ‘jehad’.
The NIA also said in the charge sheet that IM was formed in the aftermath of “communal mobilisation caused due to factors like the Babri Masjid demolition incident (1992) and the riots in Gujarat after the Godhra incident (2002).”
It said Bhatkal, along with Riyaz Bhatkal and Iqbal Bhatkal, decided to “form a new organisation called the IM to carry out terrorist attacks in different parts of India with a view to terrorise the Indian citizens, especially the majority community…”
The NIA said IM, which was banned by the Centre on June 22, 2009, was involved in November 23, 2007 blasts in courts of Varanasi, Faizabad and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi blast of July 11, 2006, Mumbai serial blasts of July 11, 2006 and Hyderabad twin blasts of August 25, 2007.
Besides this, Jaipur blast of May 13, 2008, Ahmedabad serial blasts of July 26, 2008, September 13, 2008 serial blasts in Delhi, Pune’s German Bakery blast in February 2010, Chinnaswami stadium blast in Bangalore on April 17, 2010 and Mumbai serial blasts of July 13, 2011 was carried out by IM, the NIA said. (PTI)
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