2014 Bijnor Blast: Government nod to transfer six cases to NIA

In a letter to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs a week ago, the government accepted the NIA’s repeated request for the transfer of investigation into the cases in which six members of SIMI are being held accused. While the MHA is yet to issue notification to the NIA to take up the investigation, UP’s Principal Secretary (Home) Debashish Panda confirmed that the letter stating “no objection” was sent to the central government a week ago.

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Significantly, two of the six accused — Mohammad Aizazuddin and Mohammad Aslam — were killed in the police encounter in Telangana this month. The four others, all absconding, are Shaikh Mehboob alias Gudoo alias Maliq (25), Amjad alias Pappu alias Daud (25), Zakir Hussain alias Sadiq (32) and Mohammad Salik alias Sallu.

Except Salik, others have been absconding since their escape from Khandwa district jail in Madhya Pradesh in October 2013. All six had taken two houses on rent at Mohalla Bhatan in City Kotwali police station area of Bijnor in July last year posing as Hindu youths.

As many as six FIRs were registered in connection with the blast that took place at one of these houses during the assembling of bombs in which Shaikh Mehboo suffered burn injuries. The police recovered large quantity of explosives, half-assembled bombs, a laptop, .32 bore pistol, three voter ID cards bearing Hindu names and two Urdu books from the house.

During investigation, the police collected CCTV footage from a nearby clinic showing the injured SIMI operative being brought by his associates for treatment. The footage helped Madhya Pradesh ATS identify the accused.

The police later arrested five persons — Husna, her brother Nadeem, Rahees, his son Abdullah and one Furqan — for allegedly providing shelter and logistic help to the SIMI men.

The investigation found that the three of the SIMI men had taken house of an old woman — Neelo Devi — on rent while others were living in the house of Rahees. Neelo Devi, who died after a few months, had told the police that the three youths had identified themselves as Hindus from Moradabad searching for job.