By IANS,
New Delhi : A week after the synchronized bombings in crowded markets in the Indian capital killed 24 people and injured over 100, police Saturday said they had scored a major breakthrough in the investigations with the arrest of another suspect and getting close to cracking the “module” that was allegedly responsible for planting bombs and causing mayhem in several Indian cities this year.
Two terrorists of the Indian Mujahideen – a group that has claimed responsibility for most of the bombings this year – were killed in a shootout with anti-terror police and one was arrested Friday in south Delhi.
One police sharpshooter was also killed in the firefight in the Muslim-dominated Jamia Nagar area near the Jamia Milia University in south Delhi.
Saif, the man arrested in Jamia Nagar and kept in the Lodhi Road office of the Delhi Police Special Cell, has confessed that the module, consisting of 10-12 members, was involved in planting the bombs, the police claimed Saturday.
Meanwhile, another suspected terrorist Zishan was arrested from the crowded Jhandewalan area of the capital Friday night. “Zishan was arrested on a secret tip off from Jhandewalan,” Delhi Police Special Cell Deputy Commissioner of Police Alok Kumar said.
Police officials said they were now looking for 10-12 more people allegedly involved in the Delhi blasts.
The officials said Saif told them that Mohammed Atif, alias Bashir, who was killed in the shootout, was the mastermind of the Indian Mujahideen terror module that was busted in Friday’s shootout.
Atif had researched, planned and executed the bombings in Delhi last Saturday, the July 26 Ahmedabad blasts and the May 13 Jaipur blasts, which together have killed more than 100 people and injured more than 200, police officials alleged.
Two terrorists of the Indian Mujahideen were killed and one arrested after the shootout in Jamia Nagar Friday morning. Two terrorists managed to escape.
Atif, a resident of Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, was handling all the work of the Indian Mujahideen, and was one of the top leaders, according to what Saif had told the investigators. Atif was in charge of manufacturing the bombs and executing the blasts, Saif said.
Saif reportedly confessed to being the one who planted the bombs at Regal Cinema, which was defused.
He told the investigators that Zishan and Sajid – who was killed Friday morning in the shootout – were responsible for planting the bomb in New Delhi’s downtown Connaught Place where it meets Barakhamba Road. That explosion killed two people.
Atif planted the bomb at Greater Kailash-I. The man who planted the bomb at Gaffar Market was a new recruit, and Saif said he did not know his name.
Saif was studying computer science in Jamia Milia Islamia and had come in contact with the terror module recently.
The Indian Mujahideen is a radical offshoot of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
Police had recovered 12 shoulder bags and several mobile phones from the L-18 Batla House in Jamia Nagar. They are examining the mobile call records to trace the two members who fled the scene after the shootout.
A police official said that the probe had led them to the “roots” of the Indian Mujahedeen group.