Putting a question mark on the Delhi police’s claim that the two Indian Mujahideen operatives who stayed in Byculla and were responsible for the 13/7 triple blasts were Pakistani nationals, local investigations are now pointing to them actually being Indians from Bihar.
The fact came to light after the statements of the occupants of the Byculla building, where the duo — Wakkas and Tabrez — had stayed, were recorded. Those who interacted with the two have said that they spoke fluent Hindi with a Bihari accent and also “dressed like them”.
Special cell of the Delhi police found about the duo’s affiliation to the IM through leather businessman Naqi, whom they had let loose and kept a watch on. Naqi had then led the police unwittingly to the building in Byculla where the duo was staying. The Delhi police later claimed that the Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad had botched up their operation by arresting Naqi in a forgery case when they were expecting to arrest IM co-founder Yasin Bhatkal along with the two, Wakkas and Tabrez.
According to a source, in the statements recorded by the ATS, the residents of the building told the investigators that while the two usually kept to themselves, they spoke fluent Hindi with a Bihari accent whenever they interacted with other residents of the building. A neighbour who had casually spoken to them a few times has said in his statement that they spoke to her while they were leaving for Delhi sometime in 2011.
The neighbour told the ATS that there was nothing to show that the two could have been Pakistanis. “They spoke about their visit to Delhi to their brother’s place sometime in 2011 and also exchanged greetings during festivals.
Pakistanis have a strong Punjabi Urdu accent, but these two spoke like most of the residents of the building, who are Muslims largely from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. They also dressed like them. They mostly wore jeans and T-shirts, and sometimes Pathani wear — the ones Indian Muslims wear during festivities,” the sources said.
The two also reportedly showed their PAN cards — issued from Patna — to Sultan Khan, the agent who introduced them to the owner of the room Rubina Sheikh.