IMs South India module behind Pune bakery blast

The Pune German Bakery blast of February 13 was carried out by the South India module of Indian Mujahideen,headed by Riyaz Bhatkal...

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The Pune German Bakery blast of February 13 was carried out by the South India module of Indian Mujahideen,headed by Riyaz Bhatkal,one of the arrested members of the terror group is believed to have told investigators during interrogation.

IM operative Salman Ahmed alias Chotu,who was in Nepal the day the blast occurred,has also told investigators that he received an SMS and a call from Bhatkal that day,sources said.

Riyaz Bhatkal sent an SMS to Salman informing him about the Pune blast being successfully carried out and also called to tell him that he should switch on TV to check it, a source said.

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Salman,who was arrested just weeks after the blast,was part of the North India module of IM,under the leadership of Mohammad Atif Ameen.

Sources said Salman has taken name of Riyaz Bhatkal as key conspirator of the blast that killed 17 people and it was monitored by Riyazs relative Yasin Bhatkal,who is reportedly on the radar of Maharashtra ATS and other agencies.

About the South India module,Salman has reportedly told the interrogators that the members of this outfit are based in Maharashtra,Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and there could be around 30 members in the module around the same number as that in the North India module of the IM. The third module of IM is called fidayeen attackers,in which there are 10 suicide bombers.

The North India module has been busted with the arrest of over 20 Indian Mujahideen members and the rest are on the run. Salman was one of them. He was involved in the 2007 blasts in Gorakhpur,Varanasi,Faizabad blasts and the 2008 serial blasts in Jaipur,Ahmedabad and Delhi. He was arrested on March 6 by UP ATS when he crossed Nepal border.

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As reported by The Indian Express in March,Salman has told intelligence agencies that German Bakery was attacked because attacking foreigners was their motto.