IM man Ajaz Shaikh, let off after asked to identify his own sketch

NEW DELHI: In one of the biggest blunders in police history, a terrorist was picked up by same cops twice, was shown his own sketch once and asked to identify the suspect. The terrorist denied any familiarity with the person in the sketch and walked away. This happened with Indian Mujahideen's media and communications wing head Ajaz Shaikh.

Security agencies had committed the same mistake with his boss Ahmad Zarar Siddibappa alias Yasin Bhatkal, now in jail.

Shaikh, 27, was finally arrested by Delhi Police's special cell on September 5 from Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh. He is said to be one of the most important logistics men in IM, who sent emails to media houses after Jama Masjid, Pune German Bakery and Varanasi Sheetla Ghat blasts in 2010 and other attacks.

Shaikh was apprehended by Pune ATS twice - in December 2010, a few weeks after the Varanasi (Sheetla Ghat) blast, and in February 2014, three days before his escape to Nepal, but he was allowed to go after a "stern warning".

Interestingly, on the second occasion, Pune ATS sleuths asked him to identify suspects on the basis of a passport size photograph and a sketch. Shaikh didn't recognize the photo but the sketch shown to him was his and he passed it off as 'never seen'. The cops let him go, asking him to inform them in case he came to know of something. Shaikh made the revelations during his interrogation by intelligence agencies and special cell, sources said.

Earlier, Kolkata Police had arrested Yasin Bhatkal in December 2009 as a petty thief but released him without proper verification, a blunder which cost many lives in different blasts. That gaffe was first reported by TOI, forcing intelligence and security agencies to step up their verification skills.

Recounting his escape from Pune ATS the first time, Shaikh said he had sent an email to media houses using an open wi-fi network in Vashi, Mumbai after the December 7, 2010 Sheetla Ghat blast. "On December 7, I left for Mumbai at 2 pm and reached around 5.30-6.00 pm at Vashi. I was asked to send the email at 6.30 pm through wi-fi. On December 24, 2010, Pune ATS apprehended me. They confronted me regarding an Esteem car and contact numbers of Mohsin (Chaudhury, an IM operative). I told them I had parked the car in Shivaji Nagar (near tourist bus stop) in Pune. But I didn't tell them about my regular chats with Mohsin. After interrogation, I was given a stern warning," Shaikh said during his interrogation.

He added that "he narrated the episode to Mohsin".

After that, Yasin came to Pune and stayed there. For Yasin's stay, whom he addressed as "bhai", Shaikh was given a room in Pune and provided a SIM card and a mobile phone.

Shaikh's second encounter with Pune ATS was just three days before he fled to Nepal in February this year.