Hyderabad blasts: NIA arrests 10 suspects in Bihar

The NIA on Thursday arrested ten people believed to have played a role in the last month`s twin blasts in Hyderabad that claimed at least 16 lives and injured several others.

Zeenews Bureau

Patna: Making some headway in last month’s twin blasts in Hyderabad, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday arrested ten people believed to have played a role in the incident that claimed at least 16 lives and injured several others. According to reports, the NIA team arrested the ten suspects from the Munger district in Bihar. The NIA officials arrived here following leads about one of the suspects arrested by the agency, whose SIM card was purchased from the city. The ten suspects are being questioned for vital leads in the case. The development in the case comes a day after a local Delhi court remanded suspected Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative Obaid-ur-Rehman in seven days of NIA custody in connection with the February 21 Hyderabad twin blasts case. During an in-chamber hearing, district judge IS Mehta allowed the NIA’s plea seeking custodial interrogation of Rehman on the ground that it has to unearth the entire conspiracy which led to the bombings that claimed 16 lives. The NIA reportedly told the court that Rehman was a key IM operative and he may give some vital information against the banned group`s members who were involved in the blasts. The court allowed the plea and remanded Rehman, who was brought here by the probe agency from the Bangalore Central Jail where he was currently lodged, in NIA`s custody till March 20. During the hearing, the court also sent suspected IM operatives -- Syed Maqbool, Imran Khan and Mohammad Aftab Alam -- to judicial custody till March 23. The NIA had earlier interrogated Maqbool and Imran and had taken them to Hyderabad in connection with the probe. It told the court that Maqbool and Imran have revealed some important facts about the blasts. Maqbool and Imran were lodged in Tihar Jail after their arrest by Delhi Police in the August 2012 Pune blast case. The NIA had told the court that the duo recced Hyderabad`s Dilsukhnagar area where the blasts took place. The court had also issued non-bailable warrants against IM founder Riyaz Bhatkal and nine other operatives of the banned group in connection with the Hyderabad blasts -- Iqbal Bhatkal, Mohsim Chaudhary, Amir Reza Khan, Dr Shahnawaz Alam, Asadullah Akhtar, Ariz Khan, Mohd Khalid, Mirza Shadaab Beg and Mohd Sajid. The NIA is believed to have told the judge that the conspiracy behind the Hyderabad blasts was hatched by the IM modules. The NIA said the blasts took place in Hyderabad on the alleged instructions of Riyaz Bhatkal.