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Journalism of Courage
When the alleged Indian Mujahideen IM operatives involved in the Ahmedabad and New Delhi terror strikes travelled between the two cities, they used 8220;conventional8221; or common Hindu names while booking railway tickets for themselves, said sources in the Mumbai Police. The tickets were booked from New Delhi, they added.
The details of the railway bookings will be included in key evidence against the arrested five men. 8220;After planting the IEDs in Ahmedabad, a group of eight IM operatives boarded the Rajdhani from Surat and left for Delhi. Atif, who was killed in the Delhi encounter, was one of them,8221; said a senior police official.
Following the arrest of the five alleged IM terrorists earlier this week, the police had claimed that they had busted the backbone of the organisation and that the arrested group was involved in all major blasts in the country since 2005. With the onus now on the police to back these claims, details of railway bookings to establish the presence of certain accused in a city on a certain date would serve as crucial evidence.
8220;The process of collecting evidence is already underway, and we have substantial evidence. One such piece of evidence we have are the railway bookings of the accused. We know exactly when and from where their tickets were booked,8221;nbsp;said Joint Commissioner of Police Crime Rakesh Maria, not willing to divulge any specific details.
The police have also ascertained the source of the consignment of explosives and firearms recovered from the accused. 8220;We know that the gelatin and ammonium nitrate was sourced from Mangalore, and we have the precise location. The sub-machine carbine seized was also sourced from Mangalore,8221; said Maria.
Whenever the group required explosives, Mohammed Sadiq Shaikh would allegedly call Roshan Khan alias Riyaz Bhatkal, who in turn would ask him to send some men to Mangalore. Bhatkal would provide a PCO telephone number, with orders to call when the consignment could be received.
