Telephone intercepts lead to IM hand in Pune blast

A telephonic conversation between two suspected members of terror outfit Indian Mujahideen gave the security agencies  clue about the outlawed wing's alleged involvement in triggering the Pune blast, police sources said on Sunday. Days after the German Bakery blast on February 13, in which 17 persons were killed and over 50 injured, alleged IM operative Salman Ansari's telephonic intercepts suggested that he had received a phone call from someone, believed to be Riyaz Bhatkal, from abroad congratulating him for the blast, the sources added.

The Uttar Pradesh Aanti-Terror Squad had arrested Salman alias Chhotu from near the Nepal border in UP in the last week of February and he is currently in Delhi police's custody. "This conversation with regard to the blast between the duo has given us an important clue to believe that it was a handiwork of the IM members. Hence the probe was initiated

in that direction," an ATS official said, refusing to divulge contents of the conversation.

During the probe, in April first week, Maharashtra ATS had come to a conclusion that Yasin Bhatkal, believed to be a relative of IM founder Riyaz Bhatkal, is one of the main conspirators of the Pune bomb blast. Sources further added that Salman received training in sophisticated firearms and timer devices at a terrorist camp near Lahore during his stay in Pakistan.

"Salman is also under our scanner for the Pune blast but it appears that he was not involved in the blast directly or indirectly," the official added. Salman, who hails from Sanjarpur in Azamgarh, is wanted for the 2008 serial bombings in Delhi, and for blasts in Gorakhpur and Varanasi in UP, Ahmedabad and Jaipur. Salman, born in 1989, went to school in Mumbai, where he stayed with relatives. His father Shakeel is employed in Saudi Arabia.