Arrested ‘SIMI’ man a prized catch: State ATS

The information gathered by the ATS of UP and Mumbai and the interrogation of Asad so far has confirmed that he had been in contact of the most wanted accused in blast cases of Gujarat,Jaipur,Delhi,Varanasi,Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh and the IM founder,Riyaz Bhatkal. Asad has also confessed to the officials of Mumbai and UP to having close relations with another most wanted SIMI operative,Abdul Subhan Qureshi alias Tauqeer,who enjoys parallel position with Riyaz Bhatkal,Iqbal Bhatkal and Amir Raza Khan in Indian Mujahideen outfit. He revealed that he had regularly been attending meetings led by Qureshi and Riyaz Bhatkal till 2006 while the SIMI had been banned by the Central government in 2001.

Both Riyaz Bhatkal and Qureshi are wanted for masterminding the blasts triggered off by the IM across the country. The duo are believed to be hiding in Pakistan since 2007.

Asad told the ATS officials that he had come in the contact of Riyaz and Qureshi after he took admission at Maharashtra College in South Mumbai in 2001.

The official also said that Asad would be interrogated extensively,as he can provide important clues related to the terror links in Maharashtra. He has confessed to taking active part in secret meetings organised by Qureshi,Riyaz and Ehtesham.

Asad told oficials that he had joined SIMI after being influenced by his elder brother,Salim Siddiqui and Kanpur president of the outfit,Aamir in 1999-2000. He was 18-year-old then.

He also said that the Hizbul men had planned to trigger off serial blasts in Kanpur on the eve of the Independence Day,2000 and had got a test blast done in Unnao district placing RDX in a pressure cooker.

Later on August 14,2000,Kanpur-based SIMI men including him and Aamir,Syed Abdul Mubin,Syed Wasif Haider,Mohammad Zubeir,Mumtaz,Ghulam Zilani and the two Hizbul militants planted the bomb placed in a pressure cooker on a heap of sand at Arya Nagar locality in Swaroop Nagar police station area. The bomb exploded at 9.20 pm causing injuries to the then SHO and three constables of the local police station who were patrolling in the area.

The police investigation later had found the role of the Hizbul operatives and seven of the SIMI men including Asad and a chargesheet was submitted in a Kanpur court against them on November 29,2000. While one of the Hizbul man,Ali Mohammad,was killed in a police encounter in Kashmir later,another one is yet to be traced. The local SIMI men other than Asad were also arrested later.

The UP ATS got the information about Asad’s whereabouts while the Intelligence Bureau and other ATS units of Mumbai,Gujarat and Delhi were given the task recently to search for the SIMI operatives who are absconding since the outfit was banned.