'4 Indian Mujahideen modules out there'

Sleeper cells in Pune, Chennai, Bangalore, New Delhi armed with plans to wreak havoc. Karn Pratap Singh & Jatin Anand report. One more IM suspect in police net

They might have neutralised one pan-India module of the Indian Mujahideen (IM), but Delhi Police sources are saying that there are at least four more modules each armed with a plan to wreak havoc in an Indian metro.

HT Image

According to police, interrogation of the six IM operatives arrested from various locations across the country has revealed that the IM has sleeper cells in Chennai, Bangalore, Pune apart from New Delhi.

“In each location where the outfit has struck, the explosives and weapons used were procured through local contacts pointing to the existence of sleeper cells,” said a senior police officer.

The interrogation has also revealed that the German Bakery in Pune was not the only target on February 13, 2010.

Their next strike, at Bangalore’s Chinnaswamy Stadium in April 2010, was subsequently plotted at a rented accommodation at Tumlur, a Karnataka suburb, sources said.

Both the attacks had been planned by Siddi Bappa, Qateel Siddiqui and Gayur Ahmad Jamali and a few local contacts, police said, adding the sleeper cells had been inducted for getting minor assistance from ‘Darzgaahs’ or local religious meetings presided over by Shahrukh who hails from Karnataka’s Bhatkal Village. Shahrukh has been allegedly assisting IM operatives for eight years.

“Their plan was to carry out simultaneous bomb blasts at the Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai temple and the German Bakery. However, a flower vendor had raised an alarm after he saw Siddiqui leaving a bag at his shop,” said the officer.

Police said an argument had broken out between Siddiqui and the shopkeeper with the former fleeing with a bag fearing police presence at the temple.

“Siddi Bappa was working on instructions from Amir Raza Khan and the Bhatkal brothers-—Riyaz and Iqbal—and his handlers in Karachi, Pakistan,” the officer said.

IM men sent to police custody for 10 days
The six IM operatives, arrested for their alleged roles in terror attacks, were on Monday remanded in police custody for 10 days. The court rejected the police plea that they should be in its custody for 14 days.