‘Bhatkal gave specific tasks to the terror module’

The Special Cell of Delhi Police had arrested four suspects — Imran Khan Wajid Pathan of Nanded,Irfan Mushtaq Landge (32) of Ahmednagar,Asad Khan Jamshedali Khan (33) of Aurangabad and Feroz alias Humza Abdul Hameed Sayyed (38) of Shukrawar Peth in Pune — between September 26 and October 9,2012,for alleged terror activities.

Investigations revealed their involvement in the J M Road blasts “meant for taking revenge” for the murder of alleged IM operative Qateel Siddiqui by gangster Sharad Mohol in Pune’s Yerawada jail on June 6,2012. The Maharashtra ATS then arrested the four on December 20 to probe the blasts. During investigation,ATS arrested four more suspects,including Munib Iqbal Memon (32) and Farooq Shaukat Bagwan (32) from Pune,Sayyed Aarif alias Kaashif Sayyed Jafaruddin Biyabani (32) of Aurangabad and Aslam Shabbir Shaikh alias Banti Jahagirdar (40) of Ahmednagar,for their alleged connection with the case. The ATS filed its chargesheet against the suspects on April 30,2013.

Meeting Kagzi

According to the chargesheet,suspects Asad Khan and Irfan Landge,who were members of the Students Islamic Organisation (SIO),joined hands in Augrangabad in 2006 and later roped in Imran Khan from Nanded and also looked out for more “like-minded” youths for jehadi activities. Meanwhile,they also started dealing in real estate and opened a travel agency in Aurangabad.

In August 2009,they came in contact with suspect Biyabani in Aurangabad who allegedly directed them to meet LeT’s Fayyaz Kagzi in Saudi Arabia. Biyabani’s brother Aakif has been in jail since 2006 for alleged involvement in the Aurangabad arms haul case,in which Kagzi is also a wanted accused. Sometime in 2009,Pune’s Feroz joined the group,claims ATS.

The chargesheet says Biyabani went to Saudi Arabia in April 2010 to meet Kagzi. After returning to India,he allegedly maintained contact with Kagzi through email accounts on Yahoo and Nimbuzz. Later,Irfan,Feroz,Asad and Imran went to Saudi Arabia one by one and met Kagzi. They too kept in touch with him through Internet after coming to India. The group allegedly conducted Darz meetings in Auranagabd,Ahmednagar,Pune and Parbhani for indoctrination of Muslim youths.

The ‘tasks’

The suspects developed contact with Riyaz Bhatkal on the Internet after getting his email IDs from Kagzi. Bhatkal allegedly gave “specific tasks” to the suspects for execution of the conspiracy.

According to the chargesheet,Asad Khan was made “amir” (leader) of the group. His responsibility was to supervise the actions and maintain accounts where money came through hawala. Imran was made “head” of the outdoor work and was assisted by Irfan and Firoz. Biyabani helped in circulating jehadi literature and provided logistic support. Bunty Jahagirdar assisted by providing arms and ammunition. Bagwan was given the task of preparing forged documents,and Munib Memon purchasing SIM cards with fake identities using these forged documents.

As per Bhatkal’s instructions,Irfan and Firoz used a bogus identity of “Kabir Deshmukh” to book a room on rent at Loni,Sangamner Road,in Ahmednagar as a “safe house” for their aides. Bhatkal’s close aides Shakir alias Asadullah Akhtar alias Javed alias Tabrej and Ahmed alias Wakas stayed at this house between February and April 2012.

The ATS claims that Irfan procured three pistols and ammunition from Bunty Jahagirdar in two consignments,allegedly for assassination of political and religious leaders and countering the police. Meanwhile,Bhatkal told the suspects to prepare for planting bombs in Yerawada jail or Pune court or to kill the family members of Sharad Mohol to avenge Qateel Siddiqui’s murder. Bhatkal also sent Rs 3 lakh through hawala to the suspects in Pune for the act.

Final action

On July 8,2012,the suspects allegedly held a meeting at Feroz’s shop “Options by Feroz” at Pune Camp. According to the ATS,it was at this meeting that the decisions to take a room on rent in Pune to assemble bombs,and to purchase mobile SIM cards in fake names were taken.

Munib and Bagwan arranged two SIM cards on fake names of Mohsin Shaikh and Vijay Kulkarni by submitting forged documents. Using these SIM cards,Feroz and Irfan contacted a real estate agent and took a room on rent at Keshavnagar,Kasarwadi,on July 10.

Suspects Ahmed and Shakir came to this room with three prepared IEDs along with explosives and other materials required to assemble more IEDs on July 18. Imran got ball bearings from Nanded. Feroz prepared six tin boxes from a fabricator to assemble the bombs.

By July 23,three more IEDs were ready. Meanwhile,Ahmed and Shakir taught other suspects how to take vantage positions and open fire on cops in case of a police raid on the room. On July 24,the suspects conducted a recce of some crowded spots in Mumbai,but since Bhatkal wanted to target Pune,Feroz studied J M Road on July 29 and 30.

On August 1,Feroz,Ahmed and Shakir purchased three bicycles with carrier baskets from the Budhwar Peth market. They parked the bicycles at a spot and returned to the Kasarwadi room. They set the timers of the IEDs and,carrying two bombs each,took an autorickshaw to the spot where they had parked the cycles.

Feroz placed a bomb in the carrier of one cycle and planted it opposite Dena Bank. He kept another IED near McDonald’s. Ahmed planted a cycle carrying a bomb near Zodiac shop and another IED near the ‘out’ gate of Balgandharva auditorium. Shakir planted a cycle with bomb opposite a footware shop and another IED under a tree on J M Road. Feroz then went to his shop where he watched television news about the bombs blasts with Memon and Bagwan.

Five low-intensity explosions occurred between 7.25 pm and 11.30 pm while one bomb was defused by the bomb detection and disposal squad. One Dayanand Patil was injured in one of the blasts. The police suspect the bombs did not explode properly due to rains.

A few days later,Feroz went to the Kasarwadi room and shifted two pistols,gelatine sticks,cutters,jackets and other items used for assembling bombs to his workshop on Jan Mohammed Road in Bhimpura Camp. The said items were recovered by the Delhi Police after his arrest. Ahmed and Shakir left Pune and have been absconding. The duo,along with Riyaz Bhatkal,Iqbal Bhatkal and Kagzi,are wanted in the case.

Links with Himayat Baig

According to the ATS,some of the suspects in the J M Road blasts case knew terror operative Himayat Baig as “Yusuf”. Baig is the only person to be arrested in the German Bakery blast case and was recently awarded death sentence by a Pune court. ATS claims that Sayyed Aarif alias Kashif Biyabani introduced Yusuf to suspects Asad Khan and Irfan Landge at Tawakkal Nagar,Aurangabad,in June 2012. The suspects came to know that Yusuf was Himayat Baig after he was arrested in the German Bakery case. Riyaz Bhatkal,Iqbal Bhatkal and Fayyaz Kagzi are also named as accused in the German Bakery blast case.