Bharat Rakshak

Ranchi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday recovered nine live bombs, matching those found in Patna after the serial blasts, during a raid in the Hindpiri area here, police officials said.

According to the news reports, the bombs were recovered from a lodge in the capital city of Jharkhand.

Additional Director General of Police SN Pradhan said the explosives were recovered by local police, who have been following a lead for the past two days.

Police also seized 19 gelatin sticks and two clocks fitted to the bombs, Inspector General of Police (Zonal) MS Bhatia said.


Each bomb consisted of three pipe elbows, he said, adding the explosives were recovered from a booked room in the lodge.

The recovery of the bombs comes close on the heels of the arrest of Ujjair Ahmad from Doranda locality here on October 30 in connection with the Patna serial blasts.

Superintendent of Police Saket Kumar Singh said the bombs were recovered during a raid.

"Police have rushed to the spot and the raid is on," he added

The police officials further said that they gathered information of the live bombs while interrogating Mohammad Imtiaz Ansari who was arrested by the Bihar police as a key suspect in Patna serial bomb blasts.

The serial blasts rocked the Patna city on October 24, 2013 ahead of the BJP's PM aspirant Narendra Modi's 'Hunkar rally'.

Allegedly, tech-savvy Indian Mujahedeen’s (IM) Jharkhand chief Mohammad Tehseen Akhtar and Imtiaz planned the Patna blasts.

Senior Superintendent of Police Saket Kumar Singh said all the bombs were taken to Morahbadi ground to defuse.

"The bombs matched to those blasts (occurred) in Patna," he said.

Narrating on the sequences that led to the timely seizure of the explosives in the capital, Singh said during raids it was established that four or five persons involved in the activities were seen at Ormanjhi situated on the outskirts of Ranchi.

From there, he added, the police traced the lodge and seized the explosives. Noting that there was no arrest so far, the SSP said after the nabbing of Ranchi resident Manjar Imam, the alleged operative of Indian Mujaheedin, by the NIA and the present incidents clearly pointed that Ranchi was more than a sleeper cell of terror activities.

Following the seizure, the police issued an alert over Gujarat chief minister Modi’s scheduled visit to Jharkhand in December.

Jharkhand director general of police (DGP) Rajeev Kumar said, “We have been able to defuse one bomb. The process is on to identify the capacity of the bombs and defuse all of them.”

With PTI inputs

..."Narendra Modi is way above everyone else on their hit list," said an officer in the Intelligence Bureau, who declined to be identified as he is not authorised to speak to the media. "The IM cadre say he is actually 1 to 10 on their list. The rest come after that," said the officer, citing confessions of captured militants.

.....

"Live bombs were found at the venue after the serial blasts. Live bombs were found a day after the blasts. Live bombs were found two days after the blasts and live bombs were found three days after the blasts," a home ministry official said, expressing frustration over the alleged carelessness of Bihar Police.

The official said that reflected how Bihar Police had acted while providing security at the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate's public rally in Patna on October 27.

Gandhi Maidan in Patna, which was the venue for the rally, is a site of hardly 800m x 300m size and it should not be difficult for any police force to scan it before a public function, the official said.

"Live bombs were being discovered at Gandhi Maidan itself for three days after the blasts. That shows how they (Bihar Police) handled the security at the venue," the official said.

A home ministry team, which visited Patna after the serial blasts, had also found that even though the stage, from where Modi had addressed the public, was sanitised and an anti- sabotage drill was carried out, Bihar Police officials were not ready to sign the relevant papers to that effect.

"Perhaps state police officers did not want to annoy their bosses," another home ministry official said.

Ten days after Patna was hit by a series of crude bomb blasts that targeted the public meeting of BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, Bihar Police Wednesday claimed it had cracked the case and said the attack was the handiwork of the Indian Mujahideen.
Investigators have also found evidence linking the Patna blasts to the July 7 blasts in Bodhgaya, Bihar Police chief Abhayanand said and added that that case, presently with the NIA, was also as good as solved.

The evidence also showed that the alleged perpetrators of the two attacks were planning to target some religious places in the country, Abhayanand said.

Police sources claimed the NIA and Jharkhand Police had also found 31 audio and video CDs — showing attacks on Muslims in Gujarat, Muzaffarnagar and elsewhere in the country and abroad — when they raided the house of suspected IM operative Imtiaz Ansari in Ranchi two days back. Ansari is one of three men arrested in connection with the case.

"It is almost confirmed. There is no doubt about it," Abhayanand said referring to the role of the IM.

"During the course of the Patna blasts investigation, there were revelations about the Bodhgaya blasts as well. Seizures from the Ranchi lodge included detailed maps of Gandhi Maidan, Patna railway station and also a detailed map of Bodhgaya with information of the entire planning behind the Bodhgaya blasts," he told a news conference.

{i}What stopped him form investigating the Bodh Gaya blasts with full vigor for that could have revealed the existence of the IM module and saved some lives in patna?}[/i]


Asked if the CDs and VCDs seized contained footage of the 2002 Gujarat riots, the DGP replied: "These are CDs of massacres that have occurred at various places, you can hazard a guess.These CDs and VCDs are of riots and massacres that took place in the country and outside."

A Jharkhand Police officer with knowledge of the raids conducted on locations of suspects in Ranchi said a map of Gandhi Maidan was found in the room of Iram Lodge in Ranchi occupied by Mujibullah Ansari, who is now absconding.

"It is a map drawn by hand using a pencil. It is quite crude, demarcating the boundary of the maidan along with some buildings on the periphery. We are working on the theory that at least a part of the Patna blasts conspiracy was hatched in the room," said the officer.

Police believe that Hyder Ali, on the most wanted list of the NIA and a suspect in the Patna blasts case, stayed at the lodge. "He was either Mujibullah's roommate or lived in an adjacent room. The proof of identity that he submitted claims he is Salim Ansari, but we have not been able to verify the address yet," the officer said. The photograph on the identity card allegedly resembles that of Hyder and a forensic examination is expected to clear the air.

Abhayanand said Patna Police had arrested Ansari, Tabish and Ainul in connection with the blasts and Ainul, who had suffered serious injuries when the bomb he was allegedly putting together on the day of the blasts had exploded, died in hospital.

He said police was looking for more people but would not disclose their names until they were arrested.

Connecting the blasts in Bodhgaya and Patna, Abhayanand said: "In both cases, Lotus company watch timers were used but the serial number of the Bodhgaya timer watches was different. The Ranchi and Patna bombs had the same serial numbers."

He said the attackers had made 18 bombs for Patna of which seven exploded. There was a gap of five minutes between explosions and some bombs did not go off due to faulty assembly. He said the pipe bombs were kept on the surface and not buried in holes dug for bamboo poles at Gandhi Maidan.

The bombs also used gelatin of Rajpower-90 brand, he added.

Police sources in Ranchi said the 25 gelatin sticks seized during a raid on Iram Lodge in the city Monday evening were also of the same brand.

Rajpower-90 features on the list of explosives authorised by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Rajasthan Explosives and Chemicals Ltd., which has its offices in Delhi's Satya Niketan, manufactures the nitrate mixture which is a Class 2 explosive.

"The sale of these materials leaves a paper trail, which can be traced back to the distributor. We are making progress of tracking the individual down," said a Jharkhand Police officer.

Jharkhand Police say that prima facie, the inflammable dark powder found in Imtiaz Ansari's house and that found in the elbow bombs seized from the lodge are the same.

Meanwhile, the NIA, which took over the Patna blasts probe Wednesday, has expressed its displeasure to the Union home Ministry over the handling of the Patna and Ranchi bombs cases by police of the two states.

Senior NIA officials claimed the probe against IM operatives on the run was being hampered by Bihar and Jharkhand police leaking details of investigations.

The agency has also complained that the Jharkhand police registered a separate FIR into the seizures of bombs in Ranchi which was not required. The bombs were seized as part of investigations into the Patna blasts and there was no need to register a separate FIR, it has said. The agency has asked MHA to intervene and transfer the Ranchi case to NIA.

It is also said to have blamed Bihar Police for wrongly informing the media last week that a witness had escaped from NIA custody. - with inputs from Deepu Sebastian Edmond in Ranchi and Rahul Tripathi in Delhi

Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative Imtiaz, who was caught red-handed while fleeing from the blast site at Patna junction on October 27, is believed to have told his interrogators that the original plan was to eliminate BJP prime-ministerial candidate Narendra Modi at the gate of a posh hotel in Patna in which he had checked in on the day of rally.

The revelation, which may lead to wide ramifications, comes after eight days of sustained interrogation of Imtiaz by the Bihar police, sleuths of Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Apart from Modi, two other senior BJP leaders, including party president Rajnath Singh and leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley, were also on the IM radar. Modi had checked into a posh hotel, just 100 metres away from the rally venue, along with a battery of journalists flown in from New Delhi.

Sources close to the interrogators said Imtiaz disclosed that he received an in-depth training on how to make and plant bombs and was supposed to plant a bomb at the entrance gate of the posh hotel. “The entire instruction was being given by the Pakistan-based IM leader Riaz Bhatkal, brother of Yasin Bhatkal. It was on Riaz’s directive that Tehsin Akhtar – the brain behind the blast – met me, trained me rigorously and asked me to plant a time bomb at the gate of the hotel where Modi was supposed to stay,” Imtiaz is believed to have told the interrogators.

krishnan wrote:plant a time bomb at the entrance of posh hotel...very hard to believe this.

24-year-old girl funded Patna blasts: NIA
The mystery girl, who allegedly funded the blasts, is a resident of Ranchi but is enrolled in a Bokaro college.
Mail Today – 1 hour 59 minutes ago

NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing the recent serial blasts in Patna and Bodh Gaya, is on the lookout for a Bokaro college girl who is suspected to have helped the Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative.

The 24- year-old girl — a resident of the Ormanjhi locality in Ranchi — allegedly helped key terror accused Uzair Ahmed and Hyder Ali raise funds to carry out blasts at Gandhi Maidan in Patna on October 27 and at Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya on July 7.

This is the first time when the name of a girl — said to be enrolled at a college in Bokaro — has come under the scanner for her alleged involvement in the IM operations.

Sources said she used to collect “donations” from different sources at the behest of Uzair and Hyder to help the IM’s Ranchi module.

Uzair, (45), was arrested by the NIA from Delhi three days after the Patna blasts for his association with the IM and the SIMI. Hyder still remains at large.

The NIA is learnt to have known about the college girl’s close association with Uzair on the basis of the call records of his cell phone.

According to sources, Uzair introduced the girl to Hyder and Tehseen Akhtar — the alleged masterminds of both the blasts in Bihar.

After the arrest of Yasin Bhatkal, the IM handed over the responsibility to set up the Ranchi module to Akhtar, a teacher at a Ranchi school. He had subsequently worked with Hyder to set up the IM module in Ranchi.

The investigations have revealed that the IM recently lured many youth from Jharkhand, who had no criminal antecedents, to work for the terror outfit.

It has also come to light that the IM operative had paid up to ` 10,000 to some students to plant explosives at different locations around Gandhi Maidan — the venue of Modi’s rally in Patna.

Meanwhile, the NIA on Wednesday arrested Shamsher Ansari, an other alleged IM terrorist, in Ramgarh in Jharkhand after tracking his cell phone.

The NIA is on the lookout for three other Ranchibased suspects — Mujibal, Taufiq and Numan — who are absconding. The NIA had raided a lodge in Ranchi to arrest Hyder earlier this week, but he was not found. The agency, however, found many live bombs and vital documents about the IM plans hatched for Bodh Gaya and Patna blasts.

kapilrdave wrote:PS: Not related to this thread but I'm not happy with the crime shows coming on tv on daily basis. For all practical purposes they teach criminals how to commit crime efficiently.

Ayesha Bano, who was detained at Mangalore airport on Tuesday morning, allegedly ran a hawala racket to sponsor terror strikes in India.
Ayesha, also known as 'Pakistan Boss', is a married woman with three children.Click here!

She allegedly ran the racket for her handlers in Pakistan.

Ayesha operated funds worth Rs one crore through 35 bank accounts via hawala channels, believe Indian intelligence agencies.

Ayesha, a resident of Mercara in Karnataka’s Coorg district, converted to Islam after her marriage. She, along with her family, lived in Panjimogeru, nearly 6 km from Mangalore.

Her name was mentioned in the FIR on the Patna serial blasts, filed by the Lakhisarai police in Bihar district. Police believe she was involved with the funding activities behind the Patna serial blasts.

The hawala racket was being supervised by one Ibrahim, a suspected Inter Services Intelligence agent.

Investigators are yet to connect all the dots about how the racket was linked to the Indian Mujahideen operatives who carried out the blasts.

After scrutinising the transactions made by Ayesha Bano, security agencies have realised that money passed through various channels electronically, not manually.

Four young men opened the first bank account in Pakistan, which was then taken over by another group of men in India.

According to preliminary investigations, Ayesha had access to all the accounts. She gradually withdrew money from these accounts and deposited them in others.

When intelligence sleuths visited her house today morning, it was found deserted. She was later arrested at Mangalore airport.

Singha wrote:I think mercara is just another name for madikeri the main town of south coorg while chikmagalur is main town in north coorg. I believe its also the hometown of gen thimmaya and gen cariappa.

Sources say the investigators probing the Patna serial blasts allege the Raipur Police may have botched the operation to nab the Indian Mujahideen operatives hiding in the Chhattisgarh capital.

Sources in the National Investigation Agency, which is probing the blasts, have alleged that the police in Raipur tipped the local media of the presence of its team in the city. Once the news of their presence was flashed, the accused ran away, the investigators claim.

Four of the alleged Indian Mujahideen operatives suspected to be involved in the October 27 blasts targeting Narendra Modi's rally, reportedly stayed in Raipur for over a fortnight after the incident.

The suspects - Tehseen Akhtar alias Monu, Haider Ali, Numan Ansari and Taufeeq Ansari - allegedly left Raipur on November 9, with the police hot on their trail.

The police say the four men allegedly planned to run away to Nepal via Motihari in Bihar, but decided to hide in Raipur. A fifth suspect, Mojibullah, was reportedly not with them.

The Raipur hideout was revealed by eight men arrested in Chhattisgarh last week, all allegedly members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) believed to be closely linked to the Indian Mujahideen.

The NIA has announced a cash reward of upto Rs. 10 lakh for any information that could lead to the arrest of these four and another key suspect.

The National Investigation Agency has said that this group was also responsible for July's multiple blasts in Bodh Gaya in Bihar.

2 more held in Patna blasts case

NEW DELHI, Feb 24, 2014, dhns:

Two men were arrested from Uttar Pradesh for their alleged involvement in the 2013 Patna serial blasts that rocked the city just hours before BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was to address a rally.

Fakruddin and Ahmed were arrested from Mirzapur in eastern Uttar Pradesh and are accused of procuring material used in the blasts. With this, six men have been arrested in this case. Five blasts were reported from within and outside the Gandhi Maidan in Patna on October 27 in which eight people, including a suspected terrorist of the Indian Mujahideen, were killed.

Four people, including Mohammed Imtiyaz Ansari who was apprehended by the public when he along with another IM accused, was assembling bombs inside a toilet at a makeshift railway station in Patna, were arrested earlier.

The NIA had taken over the investigations after Bihar expressed helplessness in handling the probe. It had announced a cash reward of up to Rs 10 lakh for information leading to arrest of five absconding accused of the banned IM terror group including Tahseen Akhtar in Bodh Gaya and Patna serial blasts cases.Besides Akhtar alias ‘Monu’, a resident of Bihar, others named by the NIA were Haider Ali alias Abdullah, Numan Ansari, Taufeeq Ansari and Mojibullah, all residents of Jharkhand.

Akthar, the right-hand man of Yasin who joined the terror outfit in 2010, is said to be involved in several blasts in Varanasi (2010), Mumbai (2011), Dilkushnagar (2013) and Bodh Gaya (2013) before his alleged involvement in the Patna serial blasts.

Investigators say he is capable of changing identity as and when he pleases and can pose as one belonging to another religion.

He could be hiding near important tourist sites in the guise of a tourist guide for cover and survey of possible targets.

‘Key IM operative’, three others in police net
Devesh K. Pandey &

Terror strike averted ahead of polls, say police

Zia-Ur-Rehman being brought to Jodhpur after he was arrested in Ajmer on Saturday.— Photo: AFP

With the arrest of Zia-Ur-Rehman, alias Waqas, a Pakistani national and alleged Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative wanted in connection with multiple serial blasts across India, and three other suspected members of the organisation’s Rajasthan module, the police claim to have averted a terror strike being planned by the group ahead of the Lok Sabha election.

Touted as a prize catch, Waqas, 24, was on the run even as several key members of the IM, including Ahmad Siddibappa Zarar, alias Yasin Bhatkal, and his accomplice Asadullah Akhtar, alias Haddi, were recently arrested in covert operations by the Intelligence Bureau and investigating agencies. Bhatkal’s interrogation yielded actionable inputs and a hunt was launched for the operatives.

Surveillance mounted across different States led the Delhi Police Special Cell to zero in on Waqas.

“Acting on a tip-off that he would arrive at Ajmer in a train, we laid a trap and arrested him as he walked out of the railway station in the early hours of Saturday,” said Special Commissioner of Police, Delhi, S.N. Shrivastava. The accused had boarded the train from Mumbai.

After interrogating Waqas, the police arrested Mohammad Mahruf, 21, Waqar Azhar, 21, and Shaquib Ansari, 25. They seized suspected explosive materials, detonators and electronic circuits and timers from them. Preliminary probe has revealed that Mahruf and Azhar were pursuing engineering courses at two Jaipur institutes, while Ansari ran a publication and design printing business, said a police officer.

“Waqas, a diploma holder in food technology from the Government College of Technology in Faisalabad in Pakistan, underwent training in the handling of weapons and explosives at an LeT camp in Naushera and another camp associated with the Jaish-e-Mohammed in the Waziristan Federally Administered Tribal Area,” said Mr. Shrivastava.

SSridhar wrote:Key IM Operative, three other in police net - Devesh K Pandey, The Hindu

Excerpt

“Waqas, a diploma holder in food technology from the Government College of Technology in Faisalabad in Pakistan, underwent training in the handling of weapons and explosives at an LeT camp in Naushera and another camp associated with the Jaish-e-Mohammed in the Waziristan Federally Administered Tribal Area,” said Mr. Shrivastava[Special Commissioner of Police, Delhi

.

Now that exposes the Pakistan Army and it is very clear that the IM is a tool of the PA in India. The PA chooses the appropriate terror tanzeem to give specialized training. Everyone knows LeT is now a part of the PA. Pakistan Army. The creation of JeM is attributed to Lt. Gen. Mahmoud Ahmed, chief of ISI (between 1999 – 2001). That was why China bluntly rejected in the UNSC Indian evidence on JeM & Maulana Masood Azhar as 'insufficient'. The Dec. 13, 2001 Parliament attcka was a joint operation by LeT & JeM. We know of the Balakot facility of JeM, but I am hearing about the facility in the Islamic Emirate of Waziristan (North or South or both ?) only now. Like the expanding nuclear arsenal of Pakistan, the jihadi training camps also seem to be expanding.

Also, we see the irony here. In the past JeM, in collaboration with Al Qaeda, had attacked the Pakistani State itself and yet it was the creation of the PA and PA continues to influence it today. JeM also has facilities in the Islamic Emirate of Waziristan where TTP rules and yet the PA chooses to send the recruit for the next higher level learning there. TTP allows that because the enemy, for whom the recruit is meant, is a kafir.

PS: It may be that the Balakot facility was relocated to the Islamic Emirate of Waziristan after the earthquake there.

Bihar cops to quiz IM operative
RAMASHANKAR

Patna, March 23: A police team would go to New Delhi tomorrow to interrogate the top Indian Mujahideen operative, Ziaur Rehman alias Waqas, arrested in Rajasthan today with his three associates.

Waqas, a Pakistani national, was wanted in connection with the serial blasts at Gandhi Maidan during the BJP’s Hunkar Rally in October last year. The Delhi police’s special cell zeroed in on him and his aides in small hours today with the help of Rajasthan police.

Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manu Maharaaj said: “A special police team headed by an additional superintendent of police would be sent to the national capital to quiz Waqas, one of the key accused in the Gandhi Maidan blasts case. He would be later taken on police remand.”

The SSP said the arrested IM operative had been taken on police remand by the special cell of the Delhi police. Therefore, there was no question of Waqas being taken on remand by the Patna police for the time being (immediately). “But our team would certainly question him to ascertain his role in the Gandhi Maidan blasts,” he told The Telegraph.

The National Investigation Agency is handling the case but a separate FIR was lodged with the Gandhi Maidan police station for a detailed investigation into the string of explosions, which left eight persons dead and over 80 others injured.

In all, seven bombs ripped the sprawling Maidan on the day the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, was scheduled to address a rally.

The NIA had announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for the arrest of Waqas, considered an expert in making improvised explosive devices (IEDs). A confidant of alleged IM co-founder Yasin Bhatkal, twenty-five-year-old Waqas’s name surfaced in the Gandhi Maidan blasts case during interrogation of Imtiyaz Ansari, who was arrested from Patna Junction on October 27, 2013.

Ansari, lodged in the Beur Central Jail, reportedly told the interrogators that Waqas and Tahseen Akhtar alias Sonu, along with Haider Ali, had hatched the conspiracy to trigger blasts at the BJP’s rally here. Both Tahseen, a resident of Samastipur, and Ali, a resident of Aurangabad, are absconding after the incident, the second of its kind in the state after the Bodhgaya blasts.

New Delhi: Zia-ur-Rehman alias Waqas claims to have been motivated very early and wanted to participate in jehadi activities. In 2009, he met LeT recruiter Taj Mohammed. Then 21 year old Waqas told him that he wanted to get trained and fight for jehad in Kashmir.

But Taj wasn't interested. He told him to come back later. This happened number of times. Finally he was convinced that Waqas was interested in Jehad. He was sent for training along with 20-25 other youngsters.

Training took place in Naushera. Each group was divided in 7-8. All of then were in their late teens or early twenties. Their trainers were Abu Bakr, Abdullah and Azhar.

Over all supervisor was one Abu Manzur. It was 21 day training called daur-e-aam, which started at 5.30 am and went for 12 hours.

They woke up at 5 am after prayers, there was a physical exercise which went for 2 hours. Breakfast was at 8 am. Then 2 hours of religious studies. From 10 am, they were taught how to handle different weapons like G-2 AK-47, .32 n 30 bore revolver. This was for four hours. From 2 pm till 5 pm, they practised firing at a shooting range.

After completing the course, he wasn't too excited and decided to train further. That's when he met JeM operative Abdur Rehman who directed him to go to Wazirstan in FATA region. Waqas was taken to a place identified as Marghaz-e-Aqsa (a big complex) and was trained along with 20-25 men.

Nasir bhai was camp-in-charge. Ahmed and Talha were trainers. It was a 20 day training module called Zuhaib . First he was told to handle an LMG and AK-47.

Because of rigorous nature of the course, some left the camp. Next part was training was handling of explosives. He specialized in three kinds of explosives - hydrogen peroxide, potassium cholrate and ammonia nitrate.

After ten days of training he was finally told how to assemble electronic circuit. He learned to handle six types of electronic circuit.

It was a stressful training. After this he was taken for excursion and was made to workout on the nearby hills to building stamina.

After completion of training, he met Abdur Rehman again. He told Waqas to go to Karachi and stay in a hotel. There another handler met him and took him to a man who introduced himself as Javed. Later he realized that Javed was actually IM founder Riaz Bhatkal.

There were quite a few meetings between them. Then one fine day on the 1st week of September 2010, Riaz gave him a passport and asked him to board a flight from Karachi to Kathmandu. Riaz told him that some one called Tehseen/Monu (now chief of Indian Mujahideen) will meet him.

In the same flight Assadullah Akhtar was also there. Both were travelling incognito, he was traveling as Waqas and Akhtar as Daniel. That's when the name Waqas stuck to him.

From Nepal, he crossed Indo-Nepal border. Monu then took them to Darbhanga, where began his innings with Yasin Bhatkal.

Varansi (Sheetla Ghat) blasts December 7, 2010

In this blast they used hydrogen peroxide. Yasin Bhatkal, Monu, Assadullah and Waqas participated in the attacked. Assadullah purchased hydrogen peroxide in Kolkata. Waqas prepared two IEDs. While putting detonator in the IED, there was a blast. He got serious injuries on his hand and 2 of his fingers got badly hurt.

{Recall that poor woman got killed and there was no trace of what explosive was used in this case? Will xpost in the Varnasi blasts thread for closure. Also want to see if there were nay reports of anyone with injuries to hand in that thread.}

Mumbai Serial blasts - July, 13 2011

Planning of this attack started way back in March. Yasin got a flat at Habib apartments near Iran hotel, Byculla. For two months they stayed there and mixed with locals. To pass time, he would learn mobile repairing. But the real reason was he wanted to learn how to trigger a blast with mobile phone. They even prepared fake IDs.

It was in June Yasin told Waqas to carry out the attack. He was told to make the circuit. Assadullah got explosives from Manglore this time. They got about one lakh for logistics and financing from hawala channels.

He then reecced the potential targets. The plan was to carry out maximum casualty. He went to Dadar foot over bridge and Sidhi Vinayak temple (dropped the idea because of security at the temple). Finally after a lot planning they decided the targets. This time he used a different explosive to trigger blast.

Assadullah got gellatine stick and explosives. Two black colour activa was stolen from chor bazaar and opera house. On the day of attack, activa was taken to spot. Yasin told him to trigger the blast at 6.30 pm. Little after 6.40 pm blasts happened.

NEW DELHI: Intelligence agencies could be tantalizingly close to nabbing Indian Mujahideen's (IM) current India commander Tehsin Akhtar alias Monu, wanted for a series of terrorist strikes in major Indian cities.

Coming days after the arrest of IM's Pakistani bomb-maker Zia-ur-Rehman alias Waqas, the arrest of Monu, expected to materialize very soon, could wipe out the known leadership of IM in India. The main brains behind the IM, however, continue to reside in Pakistan under the patronage of the ISI and Lashkar chief Hafiz Saeed.

Sources within the security establishment said Tehsin had been tracked a few days back in Nepal and his current location is being verified.

However, there are some indications that Monu may have been detained even before his deputy Waqas was arrested on Saturday.

Sources in Delhi Police said Waqas's arrest itself was worked out with help from Tehsin. Sources said that after detention, Tehsin was made to send an internet message to Waqas to meet him at Ajmer in Rajasthan. As soon as Waqas arrived, he was arrested.

On Saturday Delhi police had said that Waqas's arrest was worked out on the basis of "human intelligence". Even in their press statement on Sunday, Delhi police had said, "On directions of Tehsin Akhtar alias Monu to come to Ajmer for an assignment, he (Waqas) came to Ajmer from where he was arrested."

On being asked if reports that Tehsin had been apprehended were correct, a senior security establishment officer said, "An operation is on and we are very close."

Tehsin, for all practical purposes, took over the reins of IM in India after its then operations chief Ahmed Siddibappa alias Yasin Bhatkal was arrested by Intelligence Bureau in Nepal in August 2013.

A highly motivated and slippery IM operative, Tehsin is wanted for a series of blasts across the country, including the October 27, 2013 attack on a Narendra Modi rally in Patna.

An attempt by intelligence agencies to prod him to surrender through his parents in Samastipur, Bihar was rejected by Tehsin with a terse message that said, "I am not a misguided youth. I know what I am doing."

Tehsin is also wanted for the Varanasi blasts in 2010, triple blasts in Mumbai in 2011, Pune blasts on August 1, 2012, Hyderabad's Dilsukhnagar blasts in February 2013 and Bihar's Bodh Gaya blasts in July 2013.

An early recruit of IM's Darbhanga module, Tehsin is a close associate of Yasin Bhatkal and has not only been a planter of many bombs but also a motivator for the outfit. Apart from Yasin, Tehsin used to scout for young Muslim men in a Darbhanga library and indoctrinate them by talking about atrocities against Muslims and preaching a puritanical and fundamentalist version of Islam.

It was Tehsin who established the Ranchi module which was behind both Bodh Gaya and Patna blasts. The Rajasthan module busted by agencies with the arrest of Waqas and three others on Saturday was also indoctrinated by Tehsin.

Son of a small-time chemist from Maniyarpur village in Samastipur, Tehsin has remained an evasive blob on the radars of security agencies for several years. He escaped from a flat that he shared with Waqas in Mangalore after news of Yasin's arrest was leaked to the media in August last year.

His meteoric rise in the jihadi ranks came within three years of joining IM and partnering Bhatkal in planting bombs in Varanasi in 2010. Intelligence agencies believe that IM founder in Pakistan Riyaz Bhatkal developed sufficient confidence in Akhtar to let him carry out serial bombings in Hyderabad on his own last year. He carries a reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head.