By IANS
Hyderabad : A youth allegedly sent by Hyderabad Police to Bangladesh illegally to trace a suspect in the May 18 bomb blast at the Mecca Masjid, was Saturday sent to jail.
Abdul Sattar, a resident of Ahmednagar in the city, was produced before a magistrate at the latter's residence and sent to jail. As their efforts to use him as a decoy boomeranged, the police tried to keep the media away by sending him to jail early Saturday.
Top police officials were tight-lipped about the whole issue and also declined to give details about the case. Police sources said he was booked for his links with Mohammed Shahed alias Bilal, a prime suspect in the bomb blast at the historic Mecca Masjid.
Inquiries revealed that the task force of Hyderabad city police sent Sattar illegally to Bangladesh to trace Mohammed Shahed, a native of Hyderabad who is believed to be living in that country for the last few years.
The West Bengal Police allegedly helped Sattar in crossing over to Bangladesh. He stayed in Bangladesh for 10 days but failed to infiltrate into the camp of Shahed, an alleged operative of Harkatul Jihad-e-Islami. He was caught by the Border Security Force (BSF) near Petrapol in West Bengal a few days ago when he crossed over into India.
During interrogation, Sattar told BSF officials that police had sent him to the neighbouring country as their informer. On learning about Sattar's detention, a police team from the city went to West Bengal and brought him back.
The whole issue has been kept under wraps. However, the expose in a section of media has caused embarrassment to police. In an attempt to cover up the gaffe, a case was booked against Sattar and he was sent to jail. The youth was recently acquitted in a murder case in the city.
Meanwhile, a Central Bureau Investigation (CBI) team intensified its efforts to probe the bomb blast at the 17th century mosque, in which nine people were killed.
Since the blast had occurred during Friday prayers, the CBI officials witnessed the prayers at the mosque on Friday, visited the blast site and enquired with the local police and mosque authorities about details of the bomb explosion.
The CBI team is also questioning Sameer, an alleged operative of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), who was brought here by police from Maharashtra a few days ago. Sameer was arrested in West Bengal along with three other suspected LeT operatives by West Bengal Police earlier this year and handed over to Maharashtra Police in connection with the serial train blasts in Mumbai.
Earlier, Hyderabad Police had also picked up one Shoaib Jagirdar, a meat shop owner from Jalna in Maharashtra, in connection with the mosque blast. Police found no evidence against him. However, a case under the Passports Act was booked against him for attempting to secure a fake passport for Sameer.