What was being suspected till now is finally confirmed. India’s most wanted terrorist Yasin Bhatkal, who heads Indian Mujahideen, is hiding in Bangladesh, having established a good network in Dhaka and Chittagong with the help of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence.
This was revealed in a highly classified report recently circulated in top government circles and accessed by this newspaper.
Yasin Bhatkal, believed to be involved in almost all major bomb blasts across the country, has been on the run since the intelligence agencies and the Delhi police special cell smashed IM’s Darbhanga module last year. Several security agencies have been trying to track him since then.
Highly-placed sources said the Indian agencies had zeroed in on Bhatkal via “enhanced technical surveillance” including regular monitoring of some email accounts and chat sites through which Bhatkal was in touch with IM operatives in India. This data was then developed with the aid of field operatives who confirmed Bhatkal’s presence in Dhaka and Chittagong.
The Indian agencies have decided to share details of their investigations with Bangladesh’s Directorate-General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) to help hunt Bhatkal. But there is also a growing view in New Delhi’s intelligence community that some DGFI officers are extremely close to the ISI and that India should be wary about sharing information with it.