Key Indian Mujahideen operative Mohammed Qateel Siddiqui, 26, was killed inside Pune’s Yerwada Jail on Friday morning by two gangsters over a minor tiff.
Siddiqui was booked by Maharashtra’s ATS for his foiled attempt to plant a bomb outside Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganapti Temple in Pune.
Siddiqui was also an accused in Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium blasts and the firing outside Delhi’s Jama Masjid in 2010.
The ATS had sought Siddiqui's custody from a Delhi court after he was arrested by the Delhi police special cell. Siddiqui was in judicial custody and lodged in one of 15 ‘egg-shaped’ cells for solitary confinement.
A senior officer said while his death would affect their case, they had extracted enough information from him and had planned to tell the court on Friday they did not need his custody and he could be handed back to the Delhi police.
Sharad Mohol and Amol Bhalerao, lodged in nearby cells, admitted they killed Siddiqui over his anti-national activities.
“While Mohol strangled him with a pyjama chord, Bhalerao held his legs. Mohol ran his own gang in Kothrud and Bhalerao was his associate. They face charges under MCOCA and are involved in murders, extortion and kidnappings,” a source said.
Siddiqui’s body was found inside his cell and sent for autopsy. Asked if it was a 'supari' (contract) killing or if there was a political angle, the source said that was unlikely as the duo were hardcore criminals.
The Pune crime branch will investigate the murder.