By IANS
Hyderabad : A city resident has been arrested on suspicion that he was in touch with Shahid alias Bilal of the Bangladesh-based terror group Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI), believed to be behind Saturday’s twin bombings that killed 43 people.
Shadab, 28, a resident of Saleemnagar in Malakpet neighbourhood, was arrested two days ago but sources confirmed this Friday.
Bilal is the main suspect in the twin blasts and the May 18 blast at the historic Mecca Masjid.
Shadab is one of the people picked up by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) for questioning in connection with the blasts. The SIT officials, however, have declined to reveal the details.
Police believe that HUJI operative Shahid, who left the country in 2004, is in Bangladesh and is responsible for all the blasts in the city, including a suspected suicide attack on the police commissioner’s task force office here in 2005 that killed a policeman.
Shadab was one of the three persons who had alleged police harassment after the mosque blast. He had told a news conference that some police officials were trying to lure him with money to act as their decoy.
Police are yet to achieve a breakthrough in the investigations into Saturday’s blasts. On Wednesday they released a sketch of a man suspected to have planted the bomb in Lumbini Park based on the description of a witness.
Meanwhile, a city court granted bail to Shoaib Jagirdar, a native of Maharashtra who was arrested in connection with the Mecca Masjid blast.
Police found no evidence linking him to the attack but a case was filed against him for attempting to secure a fake passport for Sameer, another accused brought from Maharashtra in connection with the mosque blast, which had claimed nine lives.
Sameer, an alleged terror operative, was arrested in West Bengal in April while crossing over to India along with three others. He allegedly brought RDX into the city that was used in the mosque blast. Of the 15 kg RDX allegedly brought into the city, only 800 grams was used in the mosque blast.
Since ammonium nitrate was used in the twin blasts, police fear that the terrorists might still use the remaining RDX. The city police are on high alert and checking all public places regularly.