Two days after three explosions rocked Mumbai, the Centre’s intelligence agencies — which have been examining various theories — suspect that a new module of the Indian Mujahideen called Bullet 313 might have carried out the attack.
Union home secretary R.K. Singh, however, said on Friday that no particular group had been zeroed in on as yet.
But while the home ministry says there were no specific intelligence inputs warning of possible blasts, officials of Central agencies, including the Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing, say that they had received inputs earlier about the formation of a new module of the terror outfit.
IB sources said that last year they had got information about the formation of Bullet 313, and also got the names of its operatives. “It is likely that this outfit may have carried out Wednesday’s blasts,” a source said.
He added that the agency had identified three alleged cadres handling Bullet 313, and that the IB had also prepared a detailed report on it.
Two international calls — one from the United Arab Emirates and one from Saudi Arabia — intercepted by the intelligence agencies on the night of the blasts are also being probed further. “Electronic surveillance is on,” a senior official said.
The Union home secretary said the two-wheeler in which the explosive material was planted at one of the three blast sites had been identified. Mr Singh also said several people were being questioned on the basis of their “previous known linkages”. He added: “Suspicious people are being verified. Various people with previous known linkages are being questioned. This investigation is on.”
An IB report said that three members of Indian Mujahideen — Sameer, Shakeel and Nizamuddin — were given charge of handling its newly-created module. “Sameer, believed to be around 28-30 years old, is a resident of Andheri,” a source said. Explaining Sameer’s modus operandi, the source said he generally avoided going to mosques and was well educated, with knowledge of science and English.
Shakeel, around 35-40 years old, was a pilot. Shakeel got his religious training at “madrasas” in Delhi and Indonesia, the source said. Till last year, Shakeel had apparently handled the circulation and printing of religious books. Nizamuddin, apparently a “hakim”, had earlier been living in Santa Cruz, Mumbai, but had later shifted to Bhiwandi or Mumbra.
Bullet 313’s main objective, the IB report claimed, was to identify Muslim youth and train them in terror acts. While Sameer and Shakeel were tasked with looking after the module’s work in Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra, Nizamuddin was a founder operator and gave directions to the others.
The report claims that around 200 youths had already been inducted, and their handlers had instructed them to raise the total to 313, and lead them in “jihad”. Intelligence sources said the recruits were told to attend various meeting across the country, and go to colleges — especially engineering ones — and recruit youths. Recruits from Maharashtra attended training sessions in Nashik, Jalgaon and Malegaon.
The report said that the organisation had earlier made plans to construct a madrasa and hostel in Delhi. It said this organisation’s members had been instructed not to communicate using cellphones, but to meet in person to discuss their plans. The report also claimed that this outfit was being financially aided by elements in Indonesia and some countries in the Far East.
The Mumbai police said an explosive cocktail of ammonium nitrate, TNT and fuel oil, along with a timer, was used in the bombs to create the maximum damage. One such bomb is understood to have been planted in the scooter outside Opera House. The scooter’s original owner is yet to be traced. The chassis number of the scooter was sought to be scratched out by the perpetrators of the triple explosions, but was later retrieved by investigators, the sources said.
A man who sustained severe injuries in one of the three blasts finally succumbed to his injuries. Avinash Tamka, 23, who was admitted in the ICU of Bombay Hospital after the Zaveri Bazar blast, died on Friday, doctors said.
The police also suspects the bombs could have been assembled at a remote place in South India and then brought to Mumbai.
Asked if any cross-border links to Wednesday’s blasts had been established, the home secretary said in New Delhi: “We have an email which originated elsewhere. It is being followed up.” The purported email reportedly originated from Saudi Arabia and mentions the ongoing agitation for a separate Telangana state, sources said. The security agencies, however, are not sure if this is credible information and suspect it could be a mischievous prank.
The home secretary added that investigators had also started the tedious exercise of examining CCTV footage at the three blast sites, and the images of those people who could not be identified by locals are being put through a database in an effort to establish their identities. The agencies are also tracking suspects known to have underworld links. “Now we have all those people whose faces appeared... They have to be verified by local people to see whether they are locals or outsiders. That process is on. There are 11 CDs which have been gone through. It is voluminous work,” Mr Singh said.