Interrogation of the Indian Mujaheedin (IM) chief Tehsin Akhtar, alias Monu, has revealed that he himself had conducted a recce of Agra to plan a terror strike there. Meanwhile, he also told the investigators the multiple blasts in the Patna rally of Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP)’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was handiwork of Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) ‘Black Beauty’ module. Even though he was in close terms with that module, he was not a party to the blasts, Monu claimed.
Investigators are now digging deep to ascertain the claims of Monu. Monu had himself recced three cities — Jodhpur, Gopalgarh and Agra. Senior officers revealed that maximum damage and loss of life was their agenda and Agra being a tourist hub because of Taj Mahal was the best target for them. Similarly Jodhpur was also a target for the same reason. Gopalgarh was also a possible target to avenge the riots that took place there in 2011.
When questioned with regard to the Patna blasts, Monu revealed the investigators that it was essentially a SIMI’s work, which could not be executed properly and did not occur at a scale that it was supposed to. Even though he was close to ‘Black Beauty’ module of Haider and had met him several times in November 2011, he was not told about the strike. Sources revealed that a person by the name of ‘Atta’ had contacted Mohammad Mahruf after he saw his religious posts at a social networking site. later on they both started chatting on a proxy server. Mahruf had further introduced him to Shaquib Ansari and other people. The Delhi Police is now trying to establish the identity of Atta and his links with the arrested three youths from Jodhpur and Jaipur.
During Monu’s interrogation, it has also emerged that he was the person who had given Rs 1 lakh and a mobile phone to Zahida, the wife of Yasin Bhatkal at her Shaheen Bagh residence in Delhi in August last year on the behest of Riyaz Bhatkal, IM’s founder member, who is currently based in Pakistan. “He collected Rs 1.3 lakh from Mumbai, which Riyaz had sent him through Hawala. Out of this, Rs 1 lakh was given to Zahida along with a mobile phone.
“It was through phone calls made via this mobile to Yasin Bhatkal, which revealed his whereabouts in Nepal and he was arrested a couple of days later on August 29,” said a senior officer from the Special Cell. The handset was bought by Mahruf, the engineering student from Jaipur while the SIM card was procured by Shaquib, a computer expert of Jodhpur, both of them, along with Waqar, members of IM’s Rajasthan module were arrested by Special Cell on Sunday after the arrest of Zia Ur Rehman alias Waqas, another key IM man from Ajmer on Saturday.