UP to send Varanasi probe report to Home

The Uttar Pradesh government is all set to send the case file containing the STF8217;s investigation into the Varanasi blast case to the Union Home Ministry...

The Uttar Pradesh government is all set to send the case file containing the STF8217;s investigation into the Varanasi blast case to the Union Home Ministry, requesting the latter to take up the issue of the arrest of three Bangladeshi terrorists, believed to have triggered the blasts, at the diplomatic level.

8216;8216;We are in possession of the addresses of the three Bangladeshi terrorists8212;Bashiruddin alias Bashir, Mustafeez and Zakaria. Now, progress in the case depends on the government8217;s success in extraditing the three from Bangladesh,8217;8217; said a STF source, adding, 8216;8216;it is difficult to take the investigation ahead from the Phoolpur railway station from where the three youths broke their relation with blast mastermind Waliullah8217;8217;. However, STF SSP S K Bhagat refused to talk about the STF8217;s plans to arrest the Bangladeshi trio. 8216;8216;It is not possible for us to disclose every step we undertake,8217;8217; he told The Indian Express over phone.

Sources said the STF would apprise the government about the interrogation of the six terrorists presented before the media yesterday. 8216;8216;They have brought to light Huji8217;s attempts to develop modules in 24 Parganas, Murshidabad areas of West Bengal. One of the terrorists disclosed the role of one Sattar, who has been tasked by Huji chief Asadullah to expand its base in West Bengal,8217;8217; an STF source said.

A stumbling block for the progress of the investigations has been the STF8217;s failure to extract information about the three Bangladeshi terrorists8217; source of explosive materials. However, SSP Bhagat confirmed the sketches of the two suspects had tallied with the description of the two Bangladeshi terrorists.

The STF is trying to procure a photograph of Bashir from the Darul Uloom in Deoband, where he was student. 8216;8216;Most of the six arrested terrorists had their connections in Deoband,8217;8217; the source added.

Meanwhile, Waliullah8217;s father Habibullah suffered a heart attack after word spread that his son was the mastermind behind the serial bombing in Varanasi. But, no one in the family, including wife Umera Khatun, is ready to accept the STF story.

8216;8216;My husband is a law abiding citizen and can never do such things. I have already filed a petition in the High Court for his release,8217;8217; Umera told The Indian Express. The High Court has served a notice to the STF and others directing the security agency to ensure that it should ensure Waliullah8217;s appearance in person before the court on April 12.

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Waliullah, an Imam from Phoolpur, was picked up by the STF on March 29. The arrest has caused resentment in Phoolpur, where locals have started distributing handbills against the security agencies. Irate locals also staged a demonstration at the office of the DM today and demanded immediate and unconditional release of Waliullah.

8216;8216;He has to be released under any cost,8217;8217; his elder brother Wasiullah demanded.