Bhatkal’s conflicting reports on Bakery Blast put a question mark on Baig’s death penalty

At his home down the road,tucked in a corner of the modest Kamwada Galli,Inayats eldest son Tahreq,35,is getting ready to join his father at work. The night before,he had a long conversation with a defence lawyer in Delhi. And he has spent the morning scanning the newspapers for new developments.

The Baigs have a reason to believe that any day now could bring good news. Reports of arrested Indian Mujahideen operative Yasin Bhatkals confession that the February 2010 German Bakery blast in Pune was carried out by him along with Qateel Siddiqui have left a question mark on the case against Inayats son and Tahreqs younger brother Mirza Himayat Baig.

PHOTOS: Yasin Bhatkal – The case file

It was in this case that Himayat was sentenced to death on April 16,the only person convicted for the bombing.

Currently lodged in Mumbai Central Prison,Himayat has filed an appeal in the High Court against his conviction. The 32-year-old computer teacher has always claimed his innocence. The Baigs think Himayat will finally be heard.

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Himayat grew up in the same cramped house at Kamwada Galli,sharing its two rooms with his parents,Tahreq and his family,younger brother Shahzad and an elder sister.

The family always had high hopes of Himayat,the only one among them to have made it to college. Wo to hamari family ka main aadmi tha (He was the main man of our family), says Tahreq. Our father is uneducated,as is Shahzad,who drives an autorickshaw. I too studied only till 10th.

Must Read: Who is Yasin Bhatkal

Like other boys in the area,Himayat attended the Milliya Boys High School and Junior College nearby. He studied here till Class X,but after failing to clear his final examinations in 1997,appeared for them privately. He then attempted to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree from Beed College,but dropped out after failing in his first year examinations.

According to Tahreq,while Himayat was focused on his studies,things were hard for him. He had to supplement our familys income and took up part-time jobs (including one in a steel fabrication shop). He once injured himself and a metal rod had to be inserted in his left arm.

How Yasin Bhatkal became a terrorist

In 2004,Himayat enrolled for a Diploma in Education (D.Ed) course at the Government Teachers Training College for Boys in Punes Camp area,to become a primary school teacher.

A neighbour who works for the Milliya High School says that Himayat was a dedicated student. Most of the boys in our neighbourhood either end up becoming rickshaw pullers or setting up a stall. Himayat realised he had to leave Beed to pull himself out of the rut, says the neighbour.

Bhatkal to officials: IM working on hydrogen peroxide-based IEDs

The Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS),however,has a different account of this part of Himayats life. They say there was a change in him after the 2002 Gujarat riots. In 2003,the ATS adds,he came into contact with Syed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal,an accused in the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case and the 26/11 Mumbai attack,who was a resident of Beed.

When the ATS arrested Himayat from Poolgate Bus Stand in Pune on September 7,2010,they described him as the Lashkar-e-Toibas Maharashtra commander and said he was instrumental in merging the LeTs Aurangabad module with the IM to execute the German Bakery bombing.

Related: Yasin Bhatkal wanted in several terror cases

Tahreq dismisses the allegations as absurd. Police claim that since Ansari also hails from Beed,he befriended Himayat. Ansari actually lived around 35 km away,in Gevrai town. Only his grandparents live here; we have never even seen him, says the brother.

Ansari was deported by Saudi Arabia to India in June 2012.

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The Teachers Training College and its bleak hostel stand in stark contrast to the other professional colleges and schools on the sprawling Azam Campus,run by the Maharashtra Cosmopolitan Education Society (MCES).

It was in a library at Azam Campus that Himayat allegedly met Mohammed Akbar Ismail Chaudhary,an Indian Mujahideen operative arrested by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch during a crackdown in 2008. The ATS claims Chaudhary,a resident of Punes Kondhwa area,introduced Himayat to his brother Mohsin,now an absconding IM operative wanted for the German Bakery blast,and Ahmed Zarar Siddibappa alias Yasin Bhatkal.

Baig was never a student at any of our colleges,and neither was Akbar Chaudhary nor Mohsin Chaudhary. Himayat studied at the government-run D.Ed college,which is our tenant, says the president of MCES,P A Inamdar.

Himayat studied at the government college for two years and stayed at the adjacent hostel meant for poor,meritorious students. He submitted all his assignments on time and attended all lessons. Although we have no records of his academic performance,his name is still there on our general register, says Principal N D Vanve.

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According to the ATS,Baigs Beed residence came under the scanner following the May 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case,as he was believed to be an associate of Lashkar operatives Zabiuddin Ansari and Fayaz Kagzi,who were then on the run.

Spooked,Himayat allegedly kept flitting between Beed,Pune and Parbhani for the next couple of years. The ATS claims that it was during this period,sometime in 2007,that Akbar Chaudhary took Himayat to Karnataka and introduced him to IM co-founders Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal.

The ATS also alleges that in March 2008,Baig went to Colombo. His passport reveals he stayed in Colombo between March 7 and 24. While the ATS claims Himayat met Fayaz Kagzi and Zabiuddin Ansari in Colombo and received training in explosives there,Himayats family says he went there in search of work.

On his return to India,Himayat moved to Udgir,a small town in Latur district,and opened a cyber café. He came to be known by different names here.

The ATS claims that Ansari and Kagzi gave Baig 6,000 to set up an off-the-grid terror base in Udgir under a new identity,and to take care of other operatives in Maharashtra.

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Himayat set up Global Internet Cafe on the ground floor of Sunil Trade Centre,located beside the Udgir Municipal Council. The ATS alleges it was here that the bomb planted at the German Bakery was assembled.

The BSNL internet connection for the cafe was registered in the name of Syed Abdullah Khaja,the son of former Udgir Municipal Council president Baliga Shaikh of the NCP. Khaja,a hotel management student in Aurangabad,denied knowledge of the connection to the ATS. He was subsequently arrested by the local police in a counterfeit currency racket,and is currently out on bail. The cyber cafe shut down soon after Himayats arrest.

Shopkeepers in and around the complex say that an aspiring lawyer of Udgir,Najeeb Munjewar,was Himayats partner in running the cyber cafe. However,Munjewar denies this. According to him,he came in contact with Himayat,whom he claims to have known as Hasan,when he went to Galaxy Cyber Cafe at Sunil Trade Centre to check his law exam results on a Sunday morning. It was shut. While leaving,I noticed the Global Internet Cafe was open. I chatted with the owner,who introduced himself as Hasan. Munjewar says they got acquainted after he made several more visits to the cafe.

I bought the cyber cafe in December 2009. Since Himayat was the old owner,I never said anything when he came over and spent time there. As for when the ATS claims the bomb was made in the cyber cafe (in February 2010),I am not aware of anything of the sort happening, says Munjewar. He adds that he had given his written statement to the ATS.

Munjewar also claims that he had a falling out with Himayat as I became annoyed with his repeated jibes about my dark complexion.

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Himayat initially lived in a small bare room in a madrasa above Madni Masjid in Udgir. He stayed here under the name Shaikh Ahmed Parbhanikar from April 4,2009,till May 2010,and would pay a monthly rent of Rs 500. Initially,a youth named Najeeb stayed with him. Later,another youth named Sayed Ahmed,who said he worked for the Maharashtra State Electricity Board,moved in, says Mohammed Usman Siddique,a trustee of the masjid.

Siddique claims Parbhanikar was out generally from 9.30 am to 9.30 pm. He paid his rent regularly. After his arrest,an inspector recorded my statement. He also took away our register which had a record of Parbhanikars stay, Siddique says,grumbling that the register hasnt yet been returned.

Himayat also struck a friendship with some men engaged in social activities at Udgirs Jama Masjid at Chaubara. One of these men,Siddiqui Khurshid Alam,a junior clerk at the government D.Ed college in Udgir,was later arrested by local police on charges of procuring a voter ID card for Himayat under a different name.

Alam says Himayat told him his name was Yusuf. I was in charge of collecting photographs of voters who had not given the same for their forms. Of a total of 42,000 forms,I was assigned around 5,000. I delegated some of the work…I knew Himayat Baig as Yusuf,and was arrested in connection with one of two voter ID cards he held. He also held another ID under the name Qayum,for which an official named S S Patil was arrested, says Alam,adding that he was later released on bail as no chargesheet was filed against him.

Alam incidentally believes Himayat is innocent. I am not sure why he never told us his real name,but there is no doubt,he could not have been involved in terrorist activities. He volunteered for manual labour at the masjid. He also began staying overnight and teaching children at a coaching class some of us had started.

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The Alsaba Classes,for students between Classes V and VII,are run at the White House in Azad Nagar area. The two-storey bungalow,named so for its colour and the two pillars in the front,was built by Sayed Tanvir Ajmal,known in the area as Tanveer Khadir. The Khadir family stays next door.

A few of us decided we should start a coaching school for meritorious students. The plan was to help them clear the MPSC (the state civil services exam). Himayat was hired as a computer teacher (in June 2010). We called him Hasan sir, says Khadir.

A prosecution witness in the German Bakery case,Shaikh Gaus,says he worked as the admin head for the Alsaba Classes,and knew Hasan sir well. He stayed with us for a month-and-a-half,before he left abruptly on the fifth or sixth roza during Ramzan. We learnt of Himayat Baigs arrest on the 27th roza, says Gaus,who finds it hard to believe that Baig could be a terrorist. He was always short of money,and borrowed from me.

Himayats lawyer Mehmood Pracha insists he never used a false name. When asked why people who met him in Udgir maintain they knew him as Hasan sir or Yusuf,Pracha says: The matter is subjudice and I cannot comment. However,our case is that he never used a false name. The entire case against Himayat is false.

Khadir speaks fondly of a bond he built with Himayat over their love for animated movies. The movies downloaded by Himayat from the Internet are still a hit with students of the coaching centre. These include Finding Nemo and Bee Movie.

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Back at their Beed home,Inayat speaks nervously about Himayat,unsure whether his other two sons will approve. He last saw Himayat a month before his arrest,he says,adding,After he left Beed,he would come visit us every two or three months. We were never completely cut off from him. Shahzad too disputes police claims of Himayat having left home for good.

The family does not possess a single photograph of Himayatright since his childhood. Says Inayat,When he became conscious of our religion,he became averse to photos being taken of him.

Shahzad adds that one day,on one of his visits,Himayat destroyed his old photos as well. I was out driving my rickshaw. When I got home,he had burnt an entire album of photographs.

The ATS case

* Himayat,Yasin Bhatkal,Mohsin Chaudhary,Riyaz Bhatkal,Iqbal Bhatkal,Fayaz Kagzi and Syed Zabiuddin Ansari conspired in 2008 to carry out terrorist activities,and received financial assistance from across the border.

* In March 2008,Himayat visited Colombo and met Kagzi and Ansari,where the German Bakery plan was finalised. Himayat received training to assemble an explosive device. Baig also received 6,000 to execute the plan.

* Himayat stayed at Udgir under aliases of Yusuf and Hasan,and used the bank account of a friend identified as Rehan for transactions. He also forged documents.

* Yasin and Mohsin Chaudhary met Himayat in Udgir in the last week of January 2010. On January 31,2010,Himayat conducted a recce for the German Bakery blast. In the first week of February 2010,Yasin and Mohsin met Himayat again in Udgir.

* Himayat went to Mumbai and purchased a Nokia 1100 mobile phone to use it as a trigger. To shake off any trail,he kept his mobile phones (the chargesheet indicates he had more than one) with a friend in Mumbai.

* The bomb was assembled at Himayats Global Internet Cafe by Yasin,Mohsin and Himayat. Himayat then went to Mumbai to collect his mobile phones. He travelled to Aurangabad and kept his phones with a friend there.

* On February 13,2010,Yasin and Himayat carried the IED to Pune. Yasin then proceeded to the German Bakery at approximately 5 pm and planted the bomb.

* RDX and a soldering gun were recovered from the White House where Himayat worked.

Himayats defence

* No ATS investigation into the alleged conspiracy in Colombo yet.

* The ATS claimed he received 6,000 from Yasin and Kagzi but it has shown recovery of only 800.

* A prosecution witness deposed that Himayat was with him in Aurangabad at 8.30 pm on the day of the blast. The German Bakery bomb exploded at 6.50 pm.

* No scientific evidence in the link established by the ATS between the Nokia phone bought in Mumbai and the trigger device that set off the blast.

* The recovery of RDX from White House is doubtful,as the ATS didnt examine the owner.

* Inspector Dinesh Kadam of Maharashtra ATS did not tell the court that he went to Delhi to interrogate IM operative Qateel Siddiqui,who had allegedly revealed his role. Siddiqui was killed inside Yerwada jail in June 2012.

* Contrary to the ATS version,neither Bangalore Police nor Delhi Police Special Cell mention Himayat in their investigations. Both have similar confessions from Siddiqui,in which he claimed to have been at the German Bakery with Yasin.