Suspected ISI agent Mohtisam Billa, who was recently arrested in Hyderabad, has revealed that he was a member of Al-Umma, the terror outfit responsible for the 1998 Coimbatore serial blasts.
According to police sources , the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and Task Force officials, who interrogated Billa in connection with the August 25 twin blasts and May 18 Mecca Mosque blasts, got clues that Billa and his brother Mujahid Salim, who was shot dead by Gujarat police at the DGP office, were members of Al-Umma, the banned terrorist organisation in Tamil Nadu, which had allegedly conspired to kill senior BJP leader and Leader of the Opposition L K Advani.
Billa had introduced Mohammed Raziuddin Nasir, another terror suspect who was arrested in Bangalore and later brought to Hyderabad for interrogation in connection with the twin blasts, to SIMI activist Adnan from Karnataka, who is at large, the sources said.
The information from Billa had also proved the link between the HUJI and Al-Umma as Raziuddin Nasir was a HUJI activist, who had close links with HUJI Commander Shahed alias Bilal, the suspected mastermind behind the twin blasts, the sources added.