Jama Masjid Terror plot: IM’s explosives ‘supplier linked to 2010 plan’

Police sources said a consignment of explosives was received by Afaque and handed over to an IM operative in Mangalore through Abdul Suboor, ahead of the attempted bombing near Jama Masjid on September 19, 2010. Top IM operative Yasin Bhatkal is alleged to have planted the device in the failed attempt.

Meanwhile, Bangalore police Tuesday filed a 1700-page chargesheet against Afaque, his cousin Suboor and two others — Saddam Hussein, 34, a scrap dealer and Riyaz Ahmed Sayeedi, 32, a worker in Dubai, for procuring and supplying explosives to IM operatives. They have been chargesheeted under Sections 13, 16, 18, 20 and 38 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 for participation in unlawful and terrorist activities, for conspiracy and for being members of a terrorist organisation. They have also been charged for criminal conspiracy under Section 120 B of IPC and for possession of explosives under Section 4, 5 and 6 of the Explosives Act.

The police have not specifically linked the four accused to any of the blasts carried out by the IM, but have indicated that Afaque procured and supplied explosives to IM men on the instructions of Pakistan-based IM leader Riyaz Bhatkal.

“In many blasts carried out by the IM around the country, investigations had revealed that the source of supply of explosives was from Mangalore in coastal Karnataka. Many arrested IM men have stated that they received ammonium nitrate from unidentified persons in the Mangalore region but the real identity of the supplier was not known until the arrest of these persons,’’ police said in an official note on filing of the chargesheet.

Two weeks ago, the Mumbai ATS filed a chargesheet against Afaque and Saddam Hussein for supplying explosives to IM operatives for the July 13, 2011 serial blasts in Mumbai that killed 26 people. Initially, Bengaluru police had indicated the involvement of Afaque and others in supplying explosives for the February 21, 2013 twin blasts in Dilsukhnagar in Hyderabad, the August 1, 2012 blasts in Pune and Mumbai serial blasts of July 13, 2011.

According to Bengaluru police, Afaque — who is married to a Pakistan national — visited Karachi in the guise of visiting his in-laws, but also met IM leaders like Riyaz Bhatkal, Iqbal Bhatkal and Afif Jilani. Afaque underwent training in assembling of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), the police have stated.

While Suboor and Saddam Hussein allegedly helped Afaq procure explosives in coastal Karnataka to supply them to IM operatives, the fourth accused – Riyaz Ahmed Sayeedi – is alleged to have delivered a consignment on the instructions of Riyaz Bhatkal to Afaque in 2010 and is also alleged to have been in touch with IM operatives in Dubai. He is alleged to have been a carrier of messages between IM leaders based outside India and the group supplying explosives.

Investigations, claimed police, have revealed a pattern where IM-linked blasts occurred shortly after Sayeedi’s visits to India.

The police presented a list of 15 special witnesses in the case and obtained orders from the special terrorism court to the keep the identities of the special witnesses confidential.