IM wanted to avenge activist’s murder: ATS

The ATS has claimed that fugitive IM co-founder Riyaz Bhatkal had exchanged several emails with Firoz alias Hamza Abdul Sayyed,38,one of those arrested for the Pune blasts,directing him to carry out terror attacks to avenge Siddiqui’s murder by fellow inmates Sharad Mohol and Ashok Bhalerao. These emails have been attached by the ATS with the chargesheet.

The plan reportedly was to carry out a suicide attack inside a Pune court where Mohol and Bhalerao were to be produced for Qateel’s murder. Since the police anticipated a threat to them,heavy security was put in place and the plan was discarded,the ATS has said. The IM then reportedly intended to kill the families of Mohol and Bhalero and even scouted their residences but found the plan was not feasible. Next,it thought of killing the duo outside Yerwada jail but were reportedly dissuaded by high security deployed.

When all else failed,the ATS claimed,Bhatkal directed Firoz to carry out coordinated blasts in Mumbai and Pune on the same day. The ATS alleged that blasts were planned at a bus depot near Bandra train station,a McDonalds outlet at Andheri rail station,on Juhu beach and a Hindu-dominated locality in Jogeshwari.

However,since two operatives allegedly involved in the Pune blasts,Wakas alias Wakar Ibrahim Sad and Danish alias Tabrez,had earlier executed blasts in Mumbai on July 13,2011,another set of blasts was felt to be too risky,the ATS has claimed.