In a major breakthrough, Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Muhamma Ahmad Zarar Siddibapa, also known as Yasin Bhatkal, was arrested in the early hours of Thursday morning from the Indo-Nepal border. His arrest was a severe body blow to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyaba terror group that works closely with the homegrown IM.
The Intelligence Bureau and the Bihar police worked in tandem to nab one of India’s most wanted terrorists who is believed to be responsible for the death of over 200 people. The operation was led by top IB officers.
Bhatkal was arrested along with close aide Asadullah Akhtar, alias Haddi, near Raxaul in East Champaran district of Bihar, close to the international border.
It is learnt from some sources that Bhatkal may have been spotted and “grounded” over 10 days ago by the Motihari police in Raxaul, where he was apparently living as a Unani doctor. “He was aloof and did not maintain any contacts. It was very difficult to locate him,” said a senior official source.
The arrest, the biggest in India since 2001, was allegedly executed four days ago but reportedly “regularised” only early on Thursday after the National Investigation Agency and the Intelligence Bureau verified his identity from the Karnataka and Maharashtra police.
Some sources claimed that Yasin Bhatkal was first apprehended at Pokhara in Nepal by Indian and Nepalese security agencies, and later brought to Raxaul on the Indo-Nepal border, but there was no confirmation of this. It was also learnt that a DNA test is being carried out to confirm Yasin’s identity.
The intelligence and security agencies were on Bhatkal’s trail for over six months. He was wanted in at least 12 states for over 40 terrorist attacks. Sources revealed in the course of interrogation an unfazed Bhatkal confessed to his involvement in the February 2010 German Bakery blasts, the July 2011 Mumbai serial blasts and the 2012 Pune serial bombings.
Though on the run since 2008 after masterminding the serial blasts in Ahmedabad, that claimed 56 lives, Yasin was allegedly involved in almost all major terror attacks in the country, including the September 2008 Delhi blast, which killed 30 people, the German Bakery blast in Pune in February 2010, which claimed 17 lives, the April 2010 blast in Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium, which left more than 15 people injured, the July 2011 blast in Mumbai’s Zaveri Bazar, that left 27 people dead, and the February 2013 blast in Hyderabad, which killed 16 people. He is also said to be behind the terror attacks in Surat and Varanasi, which claimed several lives.
Bhatkal’s arrest will be a major boost to India’s counter-terror agencies as he was on the run for over five years. He has been hiding in several countries, including Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Earlier, he had twice managed to give the slip to the Indian security agencies. He had been arrested by the West Bengal police in 2008 in a counterfeit currency case, but managed to get bail and remained unidentified during his jail term as police officers there were unaware of his terrorist background.
In New Delhi, sources said national security adviser Shivshanker Menon was informed of his capture in the early hours of Thursday, after which he was formally arrested by the Bihar police at around 8 am. Mr Menon later briefed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the arrest.
Union home secretary Anil Goswami said Bhatkal was “formally put under arrest by the Bihar police and NIA around 8 am after he himself confirmed his identity”. Bhatkal, now in the custody of the Bihar police, will be formally handed over to the NIA on Friday. The NIA will use the existing FIR against the IM to prosecute him. Yasin will be brought to New Delhi in a special plane by NIA sleuths.
Senior government officials said close cooperation with Saudi Arabia had helped the Indian agencies nab top fugitives like Abdul Karim Tunda and Abu Jundal in recent months. However, they denied having received any intelligence from US government agencies.
While the tipoff was on Bhatkal, the arrest of Assadullah is being described as a “bonus catch”. A close aide of Bhatkal, Assadullah is also wanted for several terror blasts.
Yasin Bhatkal is now expected to shed light on the role of Pakistan’s ISI and Laskhar in the creation of the Indian Mujahideen and its future strategy against India. It may be recalled that LeT terrorist David Coleman Headley had referred to the IM as the ISI’s “Karachi
project” — with “disgruntled Indian youth being recruited, trained in Pakistan and used in terror strikes in the country to give it a local colour”.
Top intelligence officials said Yasin Bhatkal was the “main strength” behind the IM, who was responsible for its regrouping after the September 2008 Batla House encounter. The other IM bosses, Iqbal and Riyaz Bhatkal, had reportedly fled to Pakistan after the Batla House encounter.
Bhatkal, incidentally, was not only a mastermind but unlike other terror outfit bosses, he often executed the bombings himself. Bhatkal allegedly planted the bomb at the German Bakery in Pune in 2010 in which 17 people were killed. He has cases registered against him in UP, Bihar, Delhi, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
Asadullah was allegedly responsible for Zaveri Bazar blast in Mumbai and helped Bhatkal carry out the 2011 Dilsukhnagar blast in Hyderabad. He is also believed to have played a major role in all blasts carried out by the IM, an NIA officials said.
Meanwhile, Yasin’s family in Bhatkal, a coastal town in Karnataka, was informed of his arrest by the local police late on Thursday evening. “The NIA confirmed his arrest and sent us the details to be intimated to his family. We have sent the communication to them,” said a police officer.
His father Zarar Siddibapa said his son should be punished if found guilty after due proces of law, and added that the family had “complete faith” in the judicial process. He said the family was relieved over his son’s arrest as their fears about his “elimination” in a fake encounter had been put to rest, PTI reports from Bengaluru.
“We are extremely relieved that Ahmed Siddibapa (Yasin Bhatkal) has been arrested... We are relieved because the truth will come out, and our fears that he would be eliminated in a fake encounter have been set to rest,” Zarar Siddibapa said in a statement to the media.