Shahid Bilal, the most wanted terrorist in India, the man implicated by the police in every major bomb blast in the country in the past three years, is still at large.
A narco-analysis test conducted on Arshad, an accused in the Hyderabad bomb blast case, suggests that Bilal could be in Bidar, a small town in Karnataka.
According to the report, Bilal has taken it upon himself to activate more sleeper cells in Karnataka. The test also revealed that Bilal possesses bomb-making equipment, which he could use to wreak havoc in the state. It was also stated that Bilal aims to create communal disharmony in northern Karnataka.
The authenticity of Arshad's statement remains in question, as there have been several versions to Bilal's whereabouts. The Pakistan police have said that he was killed in an encounter. Bilal's father, who lives in Moosrambagh in Hyderabad, also confirmed this. However, Indian intelligence claims that he is still alive and this was only an eye wash tactic by their counterparts in Pakistan.
Bilal's brother, Majid, had claimed in his narco-analysis test that his brother was in Uttar Pradesh. He had also said that Bilal had himself spread wrong information about his death, as there was too much heat on him following the Hyderabad, Ajmer and UP blasts.
While the authenticity of the narco-analysis tests is debated, the Intelligence Bureau claims that he could have slipped into Bidar after his location were tracked down.
At present, there are three terror modules being operated by the Lashkar-e-Toiba in Karnataka. The Deendar Anjuman sect set up the first of these modules in 2001 and also masterminded a series of blasts in the state in the same year. The LeT subsequently took over operations in the state and also set up sleeper cells in Kolar, situated 70 kilometres from Bangalore.
