Viqaruddin has been evading AP police for 3 years

Even as the investigations into the firing incident has just commenced, the Hyderabad police is suspecting the involvement of a man named Viqaruddin, who has been on the run for the last three years, in the Friday attack.

Sources in the Hyderabad police department and the Intelligence Bureau told rediff.com that Viqarruddin, also known as Viqar, is considered to be one of the most notorious criminals after Harkat-ul-Jihadi terrorist Shahid Bilal, who also hailed from Hyderabad.

The police and the IB are certain that Viqar is not in Hyderabad now.

"We are quite sure that he may not have gone out of the country now and regular intelligence intercepts suggest that he is around Andhra Pradesh or in the neighbouring states at the moment," said sources.

Viqar has managed to slip from the police' grip several times.

Two years ago, the Hyderabad police had almost caught up with Viqaruddin. But after an exchange of fire, Viqaruddin managed to escape.

A month ago, there had been a rumour of Viqar's arrest in Belgaum, Karnataka, however it turned out to be a different man.

Viqar reportedly started out by joining the notorious outfit Darsgah Jihad-O-Shahadat. The 28-year-old, who is suspected to be an agent of the Inter Services Intelligence, is a resident of the Old Malakapet area in Hyderabad.

He first came under scrutiny following the Mecca Masjid blasts three years ago. A day after the blasts, Viqar had gone missing, which led police to believe that he may have been involved in it.

Viqar, a close aide of Bilal, returned to Hyderabad a couple of months after the blasts. The police managed to track him and summoned him to the police station. However, since the Hyderabad police did not have enough evidence against him then, it had to let him go.

He was again suspected behind the twin blasts at Lumbini Park and Gokul Chat, but he managed to slip from the police's grip once again.

However, friends and neighbours of Viqaruddin have alleged that he was being framed, as he was vocal about criticising the functioning of the police and Right Wing in the DJS.

However, according to police sources, Viqaruddin had been upset with the way the police had handled the blast case, and had hence crossed the border and got trained under the ISI to wreck havoc in Hyderabad.

The Hyderabad police got the last intelligence alert on Viqar last year which suggested that he had rallied forces to blow up temples in Andhra Pradesh, as a retaliatory measure. A few bombs had been found in Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh, following the alert.

IB sources say Viqar is an intelligent man and specialises in computers and disguises.

He changes his appearance very often and the last time he was spotted he was disguised as an Arab Sheikh, police sources said.

After the activities of DJS came to a halt, Viqar moved on to the Students Islamic Movement of India and then the Indian Mujahideen, said police sources.

It is said that he presently works for the IM and also shares close ties with the Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami, to which his friend Bilal belonged.

Although Viqar frequently shuttled between Hyderabad, Mumbai and Dubai, he always managed to work undercover when he was in Hyderabad.

He has also circulated CDs containing inflammatory material to youngsters to provoke them.

According to Viqar's neighbours, the Mecca Masjid incident had been a turning point when several youngsters went astray to revenge the blast.

Viqar too had been one among them. He has made several attempts to unleash terror in the city in a bid to avenge the blast, and the deaths in the protest following the blast.