IM wanted to explode 20 bombs
20 locations in Delhi including Nehru Place were on terrorists' list.
By ET Bureau |
| More Pics |
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police, which arrested three more militants of the Indian Mujahideen involved in the serial blasts here, said the same terror module was planning to explode at least 20 bombs in several places in the Capital, including Nehru Place.
The IM militants were planning to strike terror by exploding bombs in Nehru Place, a locality which has several multi-storeyed buildings, and other parts of the city, deputy police commissioner (South) H G S Dhaliwal told reporters.
Zia-ur-Rehman, Shakir Nishar and Mohammad Shakil were arrested early on Sunday morning from Jamia Nagar, the locality where two terrorists, including mastermind of Delhi attack, Atif, were killed in a gun battle with police on Friday.
Police also arrested Abdul Rehman, the caretaker of Batla House where the terrorists were residing on charges of cheating and forgery. Rehman, the father of the arrested Zia, allegedly forged the signature of the owner of the house. The encounter had taken place in that house.
Police claimed that during interrogation of Mohd Saif and Zeeshan, who were arrested on Friday, they told investigators that Shakeel had planted the bomb in Gaffar market in Karol Bagh. Dhaliwal said Zia and Shakeel planted bombs in the Maninagar area in the heart of Ahmedabad during the July 26 serial blasts.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Delhi Police had on Saturday said that that they had uncovered the conspiracy behind the attacks in the Capital and in Jaipur and Ahmedabad saying they were carried out by terrorists of Indian Mujahideen and Simi in league with Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.According to Dhaliwal, Zia was pursuing BA at the Jamia Milia Islamia. He was the main logistics provider for Atif, and planted the bombs at Central Park in Connaught Place. He carried the bombs in a school bag. He also confessed to planting bomb in Ahmedabad���s Maninagar on a bicycle.
Mohd Shakeel, who planted the bomb at Children���s Park in India Gate, is a 24-year-old MA economics student at Jamia Milia Islamia. Saqib Nisar is an MBA distance learning student from Sikkim Manipal University.
He had also worked in a job recruitment company at Nehru Place. He could not go to plant the bomb on September 13 as he noticed some defect in the explosive, the police said.
ADVERTISEMENT
The three revealed that Atif was tech-savvy and had done BSc (IT). Atif used to direct the movements as well as looks of his associates. Dhaliwal said that Atif also used to indoctrinate his associates and co-ordinate the e-mail sent prior to the blasts. He was the same person who had brought the explosives to Delhi from an unidentified place. Atif had hinted to Shakeel about a planned attack in Nehru Place. He was also involved in several recent blasts, including Varanasi, Jaipur and Ahmedabad, Mr Dhaliwal said.
ADVERTISEMENT
The three said that they did not leave Delhi after the blasts as Atif had convinced them to stay put. They said that Atif used to work out the minute details of the attack, right from the timing to the blast sites. His associates used to get information only on ���need-to-know��� basis and were not aware of the financial support and other details. He was also in touch with several other people, including a highly-educated person who used to write e-mail for the group, but police refused to reveal the details of the same.
Atif, Shakeel and Saqib had also conducted a recce of the September 13 blasts sites. The three told police that Atif used to say that the blasts should be carried out in the evening, when more people are on the roads, so that maximum lives could be claimed.
A newspaper sans any blast story used to disappoint Atif, the three told police. After carrying out the attack, they used to celebrate the pain and suffering of their victims, police said.
Download
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
Download
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
ADVERTISEMENT
