Four persons planned, executed Hyd blasts: NIA

According to sources in the National Investigation Agency, four persons planned and executed the twin blasts in Hyderabad on February 21, which claimed 16 lives. Vicky Nanjappa reports.

The NIA went through the footage from the scene they had obtained, and questioned several Indian Mujahideen operatives, and finally zeroed down on four persons, who were the core of the entire operation.

The agency has named Tabrez, Asadullah Akhtar, Waqar and Yasin Bhatkal and has already submitted a report to this effect. The NIA says that the bomb was planted by Tabrez while the other three provided cover. "The imagery on the CCTV clearly shows that it was Tabrez at the spot," informed the NIA source.

...

The investigations revealed that all the accused had planned the attack a month in advance. Although the logistic details of the blast site were available to them since the last two years, they had decided to keep the attack on hold. Arrested operative Syed Maqbool had recced the blast site two years back and provided the input to the IM.

However, the probe reveals the four had reached Hyderabad six days ahead of the blast. They camped in the city and got everything ready. Their initial plan was to carry out an attack at the Sai Baba Temple in Dilsukhnagar, but later on shifted the venue due to security reasons.

Akhtar is an operative who has been a part of the IM since its inception. His name had also figured in the 2008 Batla House encounter and later on during the Varanasi blasts in 2010. He had fled the country and was in Sharjah for several years.

...

The Hyderabad blast investigations show that he had joined Yasin Bhatkal around a year ago. NIA officials say that he could very well be the bomb-maker of the blast that took place at Dilsukhnagar.

The NIA has launched a major manhunt for the four absconding operatives. They have tipped off the border forces and have intensified their search in Bihar, which has a strong module of the IM.

...