Probe a suspect, grill a brother

Tariq Shaikh is the brother f Mohammed Sadiq Israr Shaikh, touted as the prime catch and co-founder of the IM. A doctor from Mumbra was also questioned and later released. The Crime Branch said it had been given some fresh leads by the arrested group, and that teams had been sent outside the city to follow up on them.

8220;Today we had called Sadiq8217;s brother Tariq for enquiries. There were certain doubts that we wanted cleared, and once this was done he was allowed to leave. We also called a doctor from Mumbra for questioning, as circuitry expert Arif Shaikh was staying at his dispensary,8221; said Joint Commissioner of Police Crime Rakesh Maria.

8220;The arrested accused have provided us some information during interrogation. Teams have been sent to different locations outside the city to verify the information but I would not like to disclose these locations. We are sharing information with other states and central agencies,8221; said Maria.

The Crime Branch said it would hand over all five accused to the state Anti-Terrorism Squad since they are involved in the 7/11 serial blasts. The group was planning to trigger blasts at 8220;crowded areas8221; in the city and had surveyed areas, the police said without naming specific targets.

The Crime Branch also said that the arrest of Roshan Khan alias Riyaz Bhatkal, an absconding co-founder of the IM, would be the key to cracking the mystery of who had sent out terror e-mails after hacking into unsecured WiFi networks.

8220;Bhatkal was in charge of communications and arrangements of material resources necessary for the group8217;s activities. He is the man who will know whether it is Abdus Subhan Qureshi alias Tauqir or someone else who sent the terror e-mails,8221; said Maria.

The Crime Branch said that the finance for the group8217;s activities was in the form of several lakhs of rupees sent to the city via the hawala channel and received by Mohammed Sadiq Shaikh.