Terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM), which has so far claimed more than 600 lives across the country in the past couple of years, was given its name by one of its co-founders, Roshan Khan alias Riyaz Bhatkal. He is believed to be in Pakistan.
“The name of the outfit was decided by Riyaz Bhatkal. He was the one, who along with his two associates — Atif and Mohammad Sadiq Shaikh — formed the Indian Mujahideen,” said Rakesh Maria, joint commissioner of police (crime).
According to Maria, the new outfit (IM) is a breakaway group of Students Islamic Movement of India (Simi). When asked about the reason, due to which Sadiq, Bhatkal and Atif wanted to form a new outfit, he said, “The group (IM) had executed several blasts before the Jaipur blasts in May this year. But it was not getting publicity. So, in order to gain publicity, the group came under one umbrella, which came to be known as IM.” He said the name was decided by Bhatkal a few days before the Jaipur blasts, which claimed around 80 lives. “Bhatkal is the person, who also decided on the e-mail address, al_arbi_delhi@yahoo.com, from which the terror warnings were to be delivered to the media houses,” Maria added.
A crime branch officer said around six more suspects belonging to the same module, which was busted by the crime branch recently, are absconding. “They are allegedly involved in the Delhi and Ahmedabad blasts and the police are on a lookout for them,” he added.
However, the police are yet to get hold of the person who was behind the terror mails. According to Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad, the suspect — Abdul Subhan Qureshi alias Tauqeer — is in touch with Bhatkal. “The module that has been busted by us, doesn’t have much information about Tauqeer. It is sure that the emails were sent on the instructions of Bhatkal, but the person instrumental in sending those mails is still to be identified,” said Maria.
Speaking about the modus operandi of the IM, Maria said, “The group is very precise in its operations. They have been specially trained to sustain police interrogations and conceal vital information. Initially, they were using German pressure cookers for their operations, but later shifted to using briefcases, cycles, and cars. Recently, they started using tiffin boxes to conceal explosives.”
s_somendranath@dnaindia.net
