Indian Mujahideen operative Yasin Bhatkal alias Shahrukh, who is believed to be the main conspirator of a series of terror strikes across the country over the last four years, managed to escape twice from the sleuths of Delhi police’s special cell during raids in Delhi and Chennai last week.
Top sources in the special cell disclosed that Yasin, on whom the Delhi police enhanced its reward from `3 lakhs to `15 lakhs on Thursday, managed to give police a slip on November 24 from Mir Vihar, Nangloi. A Jaish-e-Mohammad operative Muhammad Adhil alias Ajmal, was held next day from the same area. The special cell unearthed a bomb-making unit. The questioning of the suspects suggested that Bhatkal may have escaped to Chennai and a “source” further confirmed the presence of Yasin in Chennai.
“Our informer had confirmed that Yasin Bhatkal was in Chennai on November 27 when a raid was conducted but he managed to escape,” a top source said. The raid led to the arrest of two alleged IM operatives Muhammad Irshad Khan and Adbur Rehman.
Sources revealed that Yasin had tried to alert the six alleged IM operatives, who were subsequently arrested, about the raid but the information could not reach them in time.
“Yasin never told his real name to these operatives, though he was in constant touch with them. We are questioning the arrested operatives to get leads on other members of the module,” a senior special cell officer said. Teams of Mumbai and Bengaluru police have also arrived in the capital to question the operatives n connection with terror cases in Karnataka and Maharashtra.