2008 blasts: DCB gets 11-day custody of key accused Shaikh

The MP ATS had arrested Shaikh and other IM suspects from Bhopal on June 5,2011. The DCB,which had grilled Shaikh in MP soon after his arrest,had been waiting for one year to bring him to Gujarat.

A senior DCB officer said,“Shaikh had planted the bombs (in Ahmedabad). He is a key accused in the case along with Abdul Subhan alias Tauqir of Mumbai and Bada Sajid of Azamgarh. He was an active SIMI member before the outfit was banned and had roped in many young boys (into the outfit). He was trying to form a sleeper cell in the city with the help of some locals.”

Sources said that Shaikh,a stone polisher from Juhapura,had formed a group of 12 to 15 youths before the July 26 serial blasts.

Among the youths were wanted accused Zahid Shaikh,a cellphone store owner from Juhapura; Alamzeb Afridi,a jobless youth who was accused of bringing bicycles to plant the bombs; and Tausif Khan of Juhapura,they said.