Before Patna,Jharkhand had only one 8216;terror attack8217;,many suspects

There was a lull till March this year,when Manzar was arrested on the outskirts of Ranchi. Despite claims by the media to the contrary,the National Investigation Agency insisted that Manzar was a SIMI operative and was arrested for his participation in the 2008 training camp case in Keralas Vagamon.

Before Manzar,there was Danish Riyaz. The latter was a software engineer from a middle-class family; the two were friends,having lived in houses barely a kilometre apart in Ranchis Bariatu area. Danish was arrested in 2011 for suspected links to the 2008 Ahmedabad blasts. Probe agencies described him as an IM operative.

According to the state police,Uzair Ahmed is the bridge between the Manzars and Danishes of Ranchi. Uzair was arrested by the NIA on October 30 from Ranchis Mani Tola in Doranda area. Officially,he was wanted in a 2012 IM conspiracy case,but the police say that theres more to come. From our interrogation of various individuals we have come to understand that Uzair brought all these youngsters together. He was like a big brother,a motivator. He would be present at meetings,encouraging them that such attacks were the right way forward, said Additional Director General S N Pradhan,who is the spokesperson for the state police. Even the NIA,in a press statement,acknowledged his dual role: 8230;for his association with8230; the SIMI and IM.

There is a lot of anger among youngsters here about perceived injustices. They used to meet to discuss them,from which a trusted circle of insiders seem to have been formed. For people like them,there is no difference between the SIMI and IM. Youngsters use these names interchangeably during questioning, said a police officer. Another officer,privy to a part of interrogation of Imtiaz Ansari,a resident of Ranchis Sithio village who is now in police custody as a suspect in the Patna blasts ase,said he never claimed to be a member of the SIMI or IM.