Revealed: IM Version 2 wanted to blow up Pune's Dagdusheth temple

Interrogation of six suspected Indian Mujahideen operatives, arrested recently for their alleged role in various terror attacks across India, reveals that Pune's famous Dagdusheth Halwai was also on their radar. 

Targetting religious places, voicing the concerns of Pakistan and large-scale destruction. This is the agenda of the refurbished Indian Mujahideen.

The terror outfit's plan of action in the coming days was revealed by the seven IM operatives recently arrested for their roles in the Chinnaswamy Stadium, German Bakery and the Jama Masjid blasts. And special teams from Delhi, Maharashtra and Karnataka continue to grill the suspects to gather vital information from them.

For investigators, Qateel Siddiqui is the key man as he spoke about his role in bombings at German Bakery and the Bengaluru stadium. However, his task in Pune was to plant explosives at the famous Ganesh temple -- Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai -- on Februray 13, 2010 (the same day as the German Bakery blast).

According to Siddiqui, he left a bag near the temple, which was noticed by a vendor, because of which he had to abort his plan and dismantle the bomb. Yaseen Bhatkal was the one who planted the bomb at the Pune bakery, Siddiqui told his investigators.       

Qateel, who hails from Bihar, also confessed that the IM had planned the attack in Bengaluru during the Indian Premier League in April 2010. "We only wanted to send out a message to the Indian authorities that they did the wrong thing by banning Pakistani players (in the League)," he said.

The Jama Masjid attack, according to police officials, was more of a test run. It was never meant to be a major operation and was aimed to coincide with the inauguration of the Commonwealth Games in October 2010. The intention was only to create panic. It was a hurried operation and not much planning went into it, they said.

The motives behind these attacks are clear, but what has left the police guessing is how the gang procured ammunition and material to make the bombs. In case of the Jama Masjid attack, the IM planted the bomb in a pressure cooker.

Qateel, during his interrogation, said these attacks were all planned under the supervision of Yaseen Bhatkal who was the direct link between the top IM leadership and the cadres. They never made use of phones or emails during these operations and always met in person. All the meetings were held in Delhi and the plan was chalked out there, he revealed. 

Qateel further pointed out that Yaseen Bhatkal had told them that the Pune operation was aimed to hit back at the police, who the IM believed harrassed hundredss of innocent youths under the garb of cracking down on terrorism.

Bhatkal stayed away from the blasts in Bengaluru because he was on the wanted list of the Karnataka police, and as Qateel was an unkown face and since there was no proper record against him in 2010, he was assigned the task along with another IM cadre, Ghayur Jamil, to spearhead the operation.

The interrogations have also revealed that Delhi is the hub of IM activities. They earlier operated from Pune but after a crackdown by the police there they moved to the capital.

It has also been revealed the Bhatkal brothers -- Riyaz and Iqbal -- had made a visit to Delhi to help the IM regroup.