IM men Riyaz, Iqbal in Pak: Yasin Bhatkal

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Patna: Bihar director-general of police Abhyanand said the state police had “a major role” in the arrest of Yasin Bhatkal and his close aide Asadulla Akhtar. A Bihar police team also interrogated Bhatkal first after his arrest, the DGP said.
Bhatkal reportedly confirmed to interrogators that his two key Indian Mujahideen compatriots, Riyaz Bhatkal and Iqbal Bhatkal, were now hiding in Pakistan, sources said.
NIA sleuths presented Bhatkal and Akhtar in the court of chief judicial magistrate S.C. Mishra in Motihari late on Thursday afternoon after hours of interrogation. The court granted the NIA three days’ transit remand for the two top IM operatives. At the court, a remorseless Bhatkal confirmed his own identity and nonchalantly said: “These things (terror blasts) happen. There is nothing new.”
The duo is being brought to Patna amid high security and secrecy by a team of NIA and Bihar police officials, with a special BSF aircraft ready to take the duo to Delhi for sustained, detailed interrogation on several terror blasts, sources said.
The arrest of Yasin Bhatkal along with one of his close associates was the result of a joint operation by Bihar Police and intelligence agencies. 
Additional Director General of Police  Ravindra Kumar told reporters that Bhatkal and his associate Asadulla Akhtar alias Haddi were arrested near Nahar Chowk in Raxual sub-division of Bihar's East Champaran district, around 100 km from Patna.
Acting on a tip off that the top IM operatives were hatching plan for some terror incident, Bihar Police constituted a team under East Champaran SP Vinay Kumar.
The Bihar Police team with the help of NIA nabbed the two this morning, Kumar said. NIA had announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh each on Bhatkal and Akhtar, wanted in connection with a large number of terror incidents across the country.
He said that NIA has taken custody of the two arrested IM top operatives.

CCTV has faces of Bhatkal, aide
K.K. Abdul Rahoof | DC
Hyderabad: The city cops claimed on Thursday that they found a striking resemblance between two men seen in the CCTV footage recovered from the Dilsukh nagar blast site, and Yasin Bhatkal, the Indian Mujahideen terror suspect arrested at the Nepal border on Wednesday night, and another IM operative Asadullah Akhtar.
City police commissioner Anurag Sharma said, “We have CCTV footage of the suspects who planted the bomb at Dilsukhnagar minutes before the blast. The two persons seen in the video footage almost look like Yasin and Akhtar. However, we need to thoroughly verify them.”
The commissioner said that officers from the Special Investigation Team will go to Delhi or Bihar, to question Yasin Bhatkal.
Yasin was held ‘four days ago’
The arrest of IM co-founder Yasin Bhatkal, 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.
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. He was being traced for six months.
Two Bihar cadre IPS officers — one on Central deputation to the National Investigation Agency, superintendent Vikas Vaibhav (2003 batch), and the other East Champaran’s SP Vinay Kumar (1991 batch) — are said to be behind cracking the trail on Yasin with help from the IB, Research and Analysis Wing and the police forces of several states.
Yasin’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.
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.
Yasin is now expected to shed light on the role of Pakistan's ISI and Laskhar in the creation of the IM and his terror plans.