Mumbai cops nab 5 IM suspects

NEW DELHI: The Mumbai Police on Wednesday arrested five suspected terrorists belonging to the Indian Mujahideen, allegedly responsible for the recent blasts in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and other cities in the last three years.

The five have been identified as Abdul Afzal Usmani, Mohammad Sadiq Shaikh, Mohammad Aarif Shaikh, Ahmed Zakir Shaikh and Shaikh Mohammad Ansari.

All five belong to Azamgarh in eastern Uttar Pradesh, which now appears to have become a breeding ground for jihadis, and were believed to have received training in Pakistan.

"Usmani, a resident of Azamgarh, had planted bombs at the Ahmedabad civil hospital and had stolen four vehicles from Navi Mumbai, which were used in the Ahmedabad blasts," Mumbai joint commissioner of police (crime) Rakesh Maria said.
Sadiq was arrested from Cheetah Camp in north-east Trombay area. Aarif has been accused of making explosives used in the blasts.

"These five persons were involved in all the blasts across the country since 2005. They have links with LeT and Huji terror groups," Mr Maria said.

The police have also recovered 10 kg ammonium nitrate, four electric circuits, sub-machine gun and revolvers from the five accused. "The founder member of the Indian Mujahideen, Roshan Khan is still at large and is suspected to be in Pakistan," the police officer added.

Khan, who hails from Karnataka, had been active in Hyderabad, Maharashtra, Delhi and Gujarat, Mr Maria maintained. Ansari, a software engineer by profession, was responsible for assembling the bombs.

Usmani had planted bombs at the Ahmedabad civil hospital and had stolen four vehicles from Navi Mumbai which were used in the Ahmedabad blasts, Maria said.

Sadiq is believed to be one of the founder members of Indian Mujahideen, along with Atif, who was killed by the Delhi Police during the shoot-out at Jamia Nagar on Friday.

"Sadiq used to lure youth from his village, Sanjarpur, in Azamgarh and was involved in the planning of Delhi and Ahmedabad blasts," Mr Maria said. The explosives and weapons seized from them, he pointed out, came from Karnataka.