The dossier of a terror mastermind

Each time an act of terror is committed in Hyderabad, the finger first points to Bangladesh. After the Mecca Masjid blasts, the suspicion fell on Shahid, alias Bilal alias Abdul Rehman.

What Rediff said in February 2006: Is Hyderabad the next terror target?

The Hyderabad police say they do not rule out his role in Saturday's twin blasts.

The police dossier on Shahid makes for interesting reading. He used to live in House 16-11-240 at Moosarambagh in Hyderabad before leaving for Bangladesh. It is said that Moosarambagh is the area in which the Harkat ul-Jihad-e-Islami's Hyderabad operations began.

In September 2002, 14 youth along with Shahid set out to train in Pakistan. Shahid, now 27, graduated from the Asafiya College in Hyderabad following which he developed links with HuJI.

The dossier says although Shahid trained with the Lashkar-e-Tayiba in Pakistan, he turned to HuJI for support in his operations. The HuJI, which was founded by Mufti Abdul Hannan, operates at least in six camps in Bangladesh. It trains people from Pakistan, Indian, Thailand and Myanmar.

Shahid, it is learnt, is an expert in bomb making and due to his impressive organising skills, he was promoted to the rank of commander at a very early age. The last time he was in India was in April 2005. He is believed to have lived in Bidar in Karnataka. At Bidar he is said to have organised escape routes for HuJI militants and also set up sleeper cells.

After that he left for Bangaldesh and not returned to India since, Intelligence bureau officials said.

IB sources say as per information available, Shahid has been spotted in Karachi as well as Dhaka. His family in Hyderabad says Shahid is not in Bangladesh and is in the Hyderabad police's custody.

Police sources say Shahid is largely involved in organising youth to carry out terror attacks in south India.