The Centre has prepared a list of 31 “most wanted” Indian Mujahideen (IM) and Jam-I-yyathul Ansarul Muslimeen (JIAM) operatives that include suspected terrorists belonging to Azamgarh district of UP — Dr Shahnawaz Alam, Mohammed Sajid and Mohammed Khalid from Saraimeer in Azamgarh, and Ariz Khan, Mirza Shadab Baig, Asadullah Akhtar and Abu Rashid. Intelligence sources claim that Azamgarh and its surrounding areas have emerged as a key recruitment ground for the banned terror outfit which is suspected of involvement in a string of terror blasts.
Ten IM and JIAM terrorists on the list are from north Karnataka, including Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal, key IM leaders believed to be coordinating with the Pakistan-based terror outfit LeT for arms and training. Detailed dossiers and photographs have been circulated to all the states which, in turn, have been asked to prepare special teams to apprehend them. The dossiers have also been shared with a few Gulf countries as intelligence inputs suggest that some of these militants are currently based there and carry Pakistani passports. Of these, the majority are either in Pakistan or West Asia while around 10 are in India, sources said. Maharashtra has been alerted about three key IM operatives — Abdus Subhan, Usman Qureshi, Mohsin Choudhary and Abu Faizal — while Gujarat and Jharkhand have been alerted about two. Six JIAM absconders are from Kannur, Kerala. Other IM terrorists from Karnataka include Ahmed Yasin, Mohammed Hussain Farhan, Wasim, alias Yasin, and Maulana Sultan Shah, who belong to Bhatkal village in the southern state.