Hyderabad serial blast probe on track as sleuths get 'vital clues'

NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) did not get any inkling of impending blasts in Hyderabad from the detailed interrogation of the dozen alleged LeT terrorists last December, amid speculation now that these dozen men could be a major link to the Hyderabad serial blasts probe.

A senior NIA official said the dozen men, including Obaid-Ur-Rehman who was arrested from Hyderabad in September last year by a joint team of Bangalore and Hyderabad Police, had been extensively questioned by a NIA team last December, but no information regarding an impending terror strike through serial blasts in Hyderabad was obtained by them at that time.

"The officers from NIA branch office in Hyderabad had gone to Bangalore last December for their questioning. We have sent a team again which has reached Bangalore and will question the dozen men afresh about any clues they may have about plans of their absconding associates to conduct serial blasts in Hyderabad," the official said.

The NIA charge-sheet against these dozen men on February 20, a day before the blasts, made no mention of any plans on their part to target Hyderabad. Rather, the charge-sheet only mentions their intention to target right-wing leaders.

"The investigation disclosed the conspiracy to commit terrorist activities in India by a LeT-supported network of terrorists based abroad and their associates in India in the States of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. In furtherance of the conspiracy hatched by them, the accused persons decided to kill the selected targets - prominent politicians and journalists in Bangalore, Hubli, Hyderabad and Nanded...," the charge-sheet says.


NIA is now trying to join the dots of the association of Obaid-ur-Rehman with IM operative Sayed Maqbool who was also arrested from Hyderabad last October by the Delhi Police a month after Rehman's arrest.

Maqbool had confessed after his arrest about doing a recee of Dilsukh Nagar on a motorcycle earlier last year and NIA is planning to confront Rehman with Maqbool's confession to ascertain if Rehman had earlier hid his knowledge about an impending strike in Hyderabad.

Maqbool had confessed to have done the recce on the directions of IM founder Riyaz Bhatkal. Rehman is also said to be close to Bhatkal. NIA and Delhi Police have already questioned Maqbool afresh in Tihar Jail.

"NIA is drawing up a list of persons who could have met Maqbool and Rehman in jail since their arrest. No arrests have been made so far in the Hyderabad blasts case, but the probe is progressing in the right direction. The CCTV footage from the blast spot is the most vital lead with us so far," an MHA official said.

The CCTV footage obtained from the site of blasts in Dilsukh Nagar area shows three persons moving suspiciously near bicycles strapped with explosives, just minutes before the blasts, but investigators are unable to proceed further as images are not clear.

"Experts are looking at the footage to obtain clear facial images of the suspects. The sketches or photographs of the bombers could be made public soon once with a heavy reward for information," an official said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Hyderabad on Sunday and was reportedly told by the investigators that certain "clear clues" were obtained based on footage of CCTVs at the scene and questioning of some terror suspects lodged in jails. The PM visited the blast sites and hospitals, where the injured are being treated, to express " solidarity" with the people.

'LeT Letter Claims Credit'

Andhra Pradesh BJP chief G Kishan Reddy on Sundday said he has received a threat letter, purportedly written by LeT, in which it claimed responsibility for the Dilsukh Nagar bomb blast. He received the letter by post on Saturday written in Urdu & English, he claimed at a press conference here. He, however, refused to give a copy of the letter, saying he has handed it over to Abids police station. In the letter, the LeT stated that its next target is Begam Bazar, Reddy claimed.