Alertness of the Vadodara police after the blasts in Ahmedabad and recovery of crude bombs in Surat helped the Gujarat police in busting a terror module of banned outfit Students Islamic Movement of India in the state.
Four out of ten persons arrested in connection with the blasts -- Imran Shaikh, Osman Agarbattiwala, Iqbal Shaikh and Sajid Mansuri -- are from Vadodara.
Mansuri, one of the key accused in the case, had stayed in the city for a couple of years before shifting to Bharuch, from where he was arrested.
Five mobile phones busted a terror network
The city police have also stepped up efforts to trace Qayumuddin Kapadiya, who was absconding from the city.
Qayumuddin belongs to the core group of terrorists who allegedly planned the Ahmedabad serial blasts.
Investigators say Indian Mujahideen is SIMI, V2.0
A Mumbai based IT expert, who is still at large and Qayumuddin allegedly provided financial support to buy bicycles from Danilimda, Sarangpur and Sah-e-Alam areas and other materials used in the blasts.
City police commissioner Rakesh Asthaana told PTI that it was the meticulous scrutiny of mobile phone call records of SIMI activists and sympathisers that led to the initial breakthrough in the Ahmedabad blasts case.
'I don't know what terrorism means'
The suspicious pattern of use of Imran Shaikh's mobile phone led to his detention last week.
His arrest led to the arrest of another SIMI activist Zahid Shaikh, who admitted to having planted bombs and gave the names of others involved in it.
After the ban on the outfit, its activists in the city were on police radar, Asthaana said.
'Terrorism and riots are not interlinked'
The analysis of suspicious phone records had led them to Mohammed Usman Mohammed Anis Agarbattiwala.
The interrogation of the accused played an important role in busting of the terror module of SIMI.
Three cars, used for serial blasts in Ahmedabad, bore fake number plates of Vadodara and bombs defused in Surat were wrapped in newspapers with Vadodara dateline, forcing the city police to look into the Vadodara angle.
'It could have happened to anybody'
Director General of Police, Gujarat, P C Pandey has praised the city police commissioner Asthaana and his team for its role in busting the terror module.
SIMI chief Safdar Nagori and alleged mastermind of the blasts Mufti Abu Bashir Kasmi, who was nabbed from Azamgadh in Uttar Pradesh, had visited the city in the past on several occasions.
Breakthrough in Ahmedabad blasts case
Police are also in search of several others involved in the case and claimed to have information about those who made the fake number plates of the cars.
© 2024 Rediff.com -