Delhi Police’s long wait finally ended on Monday with a city court remanding dreaded Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorist Yasin Bhatkal to 15-day police custody. Bhatkal, who headed IM’s pan India terror network, was remanded to the Special Cell of Delhi Police in connection with a First Information Report (FIR) lodged by the Special Cell in 2011 for allegedly setting up an illegal arms factory in Meer Vihar in West Delhi.
Yasin Bhatkal alias Dr Imran alias Zarar Ahmed Siddibappa alias Shahrukh carried a reward of Rs70 lakh on his head declared by Delhi Police for his involvement in various blasts in the Capital.
Special Cell formally arrested Yasin Bhatkal after the District Judge IS Mehta granted permission to Special Cell along with another IM operative Asadullah Akhtar. Bhatkal and Akhtar were later produced before the court of Additional Sessions Judge Daya Prakash who sent the duo to custody of Delhi Police.
Meanwhile, sources in Delhi Police said that Special Cell has prepared a questionnaire for Bhatkal’s active role in the serial blasts that had claimed many lives in the national Capital in 2008.
Bhatkal is also accused in the attack on two Taiwanese tourists outside Jama Masjid on September 19, 2009, just two weeks before the 2010 Commonwealth Games and carried a reward of Rs15 lakh on his head by Delhi Police and Rs10 lakh by Mumbai Police.
He had also planted a bomb concealed in a pressure cooker in a car parked in the vicinity but it was detected well in advance and was defused by Delhi Police. One of India’s most wanted terrorists, Bhatkal had taken centrestage in the hierarchy of the now banned terrorist outfit IM after the encounter at Batla House on September 19.
The encounter had resulted in the gunning down of Atif Ameen, the head of IM in India. Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, the most decorated police officer in the country, was martyred during the encounter that had taken place at l-18 in Batla House.
Yasin had managed to hoodwink Delhi Police and other agencies for the last five years or so. He cocked a snook by staying over 20 months in a house in Jamia area and had even married a local girl and fathered a child. He managed to flee after agencies got wind of his stay.
Asadullah Akhtar, who was involved in Batla House encounter, had also taken an active part in the conspiracy to bomb Delhi on September 13, 2008. Sleuths had intercepted telephonic conversations between Amir Reza Khan, the co-founder of IM with Bhatkal brothers and Yasin and it took them some time to figure out the real motive of IM bosses based in Pakistan and its operatives in India. With Yasin in the net, agencies are looking out for Shahnawaz, also involved in the Batla House encounter but had managed to flee to Dubai. Sources in the Anti-Terrorism Squad say that Dr Shahnawaz might have entered India to take over IM operations from Tahseen Akhtar.