ATS spells out suspects’ roles

On Monday,ATS named them suspects in the July 13 serial blasts at Zaveri Bazaar,Opera House and Dadar Kabootar Khaana. The ATS did not name the two others suspected to have fled the flat in November,and identified them only as A and B. They are “wanted accused” in case.

On Monday,Naqi’s family which had come prepared to file for his bail on Monday,got a shock when told he was a terror suspect. “The ATS last night made both Naqi and Nadeem sign on a paper,which stated they were arrested in a forgery case. As it did not sound a serious offence and as the ATS on the last date (January 20) had not shown much progress,we were hoping they would be remanded in judicial custody. But we were shocked when police showed them as suspects in the blast case,” said their lawyer Sharif Shaikh.

Naqi’s uncle,who did not want to be identified,said he has complete faith in the judiciary. “We have full faith in the system. We know Naqi is innocent and will soon be released,” he said.

In a press conference on Monday,the ATS claimed the SIM cards procured by the two suspects by fraudulent means were used for planning and executing the blasts,repeating what the agency had said earlier in the day in court.

“They were actively involved… They have been booked under sections of the Indian Penal Code,Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act,” the ATS had told the court.

According to ATS,Naqi provided SIM cards to the “wanted accused”,who used them during the “commissioning of the crime”.

Yasin’s ‘recruits’

Naqi Ahmed Sheikh

The main conspirator,identified by the ATS as Yasin Bhatkal,had “chosen his picks”,Nadeem and Naqi,from Darbhanga in Bihar,the agency said. Naqi is from Deora Bandhauli in Dharbanga,and is believed to have known Bhatkal since 2008. Naqi was one of the first to be indoctrinated by Bhatkal,the agency said. “At Dharbanga,the boys were indoctrinated by Bhatkal into modules,” said Rakesh Maria,Additional Director General of Police (ATS).

Naqi arrived in Mumbai in September 2010 and settled in Madanpura with relatives. ATS said,“Naqi assisted Bhatkal to get accommodation as he went around scouting for rooms and meeting estate agents. Two or three houses were rejected before they settled for Byculla’s Habib building.

“It is not that Naqi did not know Bhatkal’s antecedents. He used to regularly visit Naqi,” said Maria.

Naqi is also accused of “facilitating the recce of blast sites”.

According to the ATS,to get access to the target area he enrolled in a gym in Khumbarwada.

Nadeem Akhthar Sheikh

Nadeem,a BCom student and a “Darbhanga friend” of Naqi,followed him to Mumbai,revealed the investigators. Instead of heading straight from Darbhanga to Mumbai,he made a stopover in New Delhi and the detour was because he was “called to New Delhi by Bhatkal who handed over a cloth packet to be given to Naqi,who in turn would pass it on to the wanted accused. (It had) explosives,detonators used in the crime,” said the agency.

Nadeem was also a conduit for the money given by Bhatkal to Naqi and travelled between New Delhi and Mumbai by train several times,according to the sleuths.

Both Naqi and Nadeem had allegedly assisted in procuring duplicate keys to steal Honda Activas used during the blasts and new bikes that were stolen in August and October,which were recovered from Darbhanga.

The agency is now hoping to get their DNA profiling done to see if DNA samples from the house at Habib Building match. The agency also “believes the IED was assembled in the same flat”. Nadeem is believed to have also lived in a house in Antop Hill during his days in Mumbai.

Unlike Naqi and Nadeem,Bhatkal was in the city only in July and left soon after the blast.

Haroon Rashid Abdul Hamid

On August 23,over a month after the blasts,Mumbra resident Haroon Rashid Abdul Hamid landed in Mumbai from Jeddah for Eid. He was detained at the airport. A lookout notice had been issued against him and he was a suspected member of the Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).

Now,he is likely to be charged in the 13/7 case.

A bachelor,Haroon was arrested for allegedly possessing Rs 17,500 in fake Indian currency. According to a 363-page chargesheet filed against him in November,the agency claimed Haroon had undergone militant training in Pakistan in 2000. The ATS claims the training was arranged and funded by Riyaz Bhatkal,another IM suspect who is on the wanted list.

Haroon,according to ATS,had been “actively participating in terrorist activities since 2002”,soon after the Gujarat communal riots. “He wanted to avenge the riots,” ATS has mentioned in the chargesheet filed against him in the fake currency case.