Mumbai: The role of home-grown terror
outfit Indian Mujahideen in 13/7 serial blasts emerged little
over a month after the incident with the arrest of Haroon
Rashid Naik, currently in jail in a fake currency case, the
Maharashtra ATS said on Tuesday.
The ATS, which yesterday claimed a breakthrough in the
probe with the arrest of two youths from Bihar`s Darbhanga
district, also said it was with Naik`s arrest that the agency
stumbled upon the money trail in the blasts and zeroed in on
IM as the perpetrators.
"The financial trail of the blast case began after
the arrest of Haroon Rashid Naik in a fake currency case on
August 22 last year. This is also the day when we realised it
was IM which triggered the blasts," ATS chief Rakesh Maria
told reporters.
Though no group had claimed responsibility for the
blasts that ripped through three crowded business districts on
July 13 last year claiming 27 lives, Mumbai police had made
plain its suspicion about the involvement of IM.
Naik, according to Maria, gave financial help for the
the blasts that revived the horrifying memories of 26/11
attacks.
It emerged during the probe that IM members in Pune,
Mumbai, Bihar and Punjab were in touch with each other through
SIM cards procured using bogus documents, an ATS source said.
ATS teams were dispatched to these places and that
resulted in the arrest of eight persons including IM members
Naqi Ahmed Wasi Ahmed Sheikh (22) and Nadeem Akhtar Ashfaq
Sheikh (23), the duo whose arrest was announced yesterday by
Maria as a breakthrough in the blasts case.
A bunch of 400 applications filled in by original
clients provided by a SIM card agent identified as Ganesh
Tikole, who is behind the bars, were used to get the
connections, according to police.
"One Imran, later identified as Yasin Bhatkal, had
also used one of these SIM cards to remain in touch with other
accused. Hence Bhatkal is shown as a wanted accused in the SIM
cards case as well," Maria said.
PTI
