Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: Muhammad Ahmad Zarar Siddibapa alias Yasin Bhatkal - Indian Mujahideen co-founder and one of India’s most wanted terrorists – who was nabbed on Thursday, is remorseless about his acts of terror.
"Such things (bomb blasts) happen all the time... there`s nothing new about this," is what Yasin is reported to have told interrogators during questioning following his arrest in Bihar.
As per sources, the terror mastermind clearly stated that he does not regret carrying out terror attacks in India.
An SP-rank official told a news channel that despite his arrest, Bhatkal appeared confident and a man of conviction.
He was on the run for five years and his arrest from the Indo-Nepal border in north Bihar is a second big achievement for security agencies in less than a month.
Lashkar-e-Toiba bomb expert Abdul Karim Tunda alias Abdul Quddooss, one of India`s top 20 wanted terrorists and mastermind of over 40 bombings in the country, was also arrested from Indo-Nepal border earlier this month.
30-year-old Yasin was wanted in a string of terror attacks in Ahmedabad, Surat, Bangalore, Pune, Delhi and Hyderabad.
Yasin, who co-founded IM in 2008 along with brother Riaz, was also wanted in the German Bakery bomb blast in Pune on February 13, 2010, that left 17 dead.
The IM was designated a terrorist group by the government under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act in June, 2010. The banned outfit was declared by the US as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation in 2011.
Yasin along with three aides Tahaseen Akhtar Wasim Aktar Shaikh (23), Asadulla Akhtar Javed Akhtar (26) and Waqas alias Ahmed (26), was allegedly behind three coordinated bomb explosions at Opera House, Zaveri Bazaar and Dadar West in Mumbai on July 13, 2011, that left 27 dead and 130 injured.
In February this year, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) had announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh each to anyone giving information on Yasin and the three aides.
Except Tahaseen, who allegedly planted a bomb in the Dadar blast, the rest three were also involved in the four co-ordinated low-intensity explosions, which struck the busy arterial road in the heart of Pune city on August 1, 2012. Eight accused had been arrested in this connection.
In December 2011, the Delhi Police had also announced a reward of Rs 15 lakh for any information leading to the arrest of Yasin in several terror cases, including three in Delhi.
While Yasin hails from Bhatkal in Karnataka, Tahaseen is from Samastipur in Bihar while Asadullah is from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh.
(With PTI inputs)
