If Intelligence agencies and police are to be believed, Riazuddin Naser could be a big catch. The man is allegedly the direct recruit of one of India’s most wanted militants, Shahid Bilal. The IB and the CBI teams are in Davanagere to interrogate him.

Bilal, a resident of Hyderabad had fled to Bangladesh five years ago and joined the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami (HuJI), an outfit of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), largely sponsored by Inter Services Intelligence.

HuJI is also known as the operational arm of Al Qaeda in South Asia. Bilal had reportedly masterminded Samjautha Express bombing, Mecca Masjid blasts, Ajmer terror attacks and Hyderabad twin blasts, in 2007.

His involvement in the IISc attack has also not been ruled out. Bilal, according to the ISI, was eliminated last year in an encounter in Karachi but the Intelligence Bureau believes he could be alive and news of his death could just be a ploy, to evade the enforcement agencies.

“But Naser, who was reportedly picked up by Bilal after he left his home town Hyderabad for militant training in Pakistan, also confessed that Bilal is dead. Naser was in touch with him,” said a senior police officer.

During interrogation, Naser said that after completing Umrah in Mecca, he sneaked into Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir to undergo terrorist training.

He was helped by Bilal, who sent him back to India in 2007 for a “specific mission”.

After his return, Naser visited many cities including Mangalore, Hubli, Goa, Hyderabad and Varanasi. “He said that he took the mission to avenge his father — Maulana Naseeruddin’s arrest under DCB6 case by the Gujarat police.
He had planned to target the DG&IGP’s office in the AP Police head Quarters for the same reasons. We however, need to verify the information he has revealed so far. He seems to have a large network of people here,” said an official source.

Naser is presently being quizzed by police teams from Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh in the presence of the IB and the CBI officials. “He had tried to attack the Gujarat police when they had gone to arrest him in Hyderabad,” said the officer.

His accomplice Asadullah Abubaker, arrested along with Naser, may not have terrorist leanings.

“He is a student of Ayurveda. He was involved in thefts of two-wheelers with Naser but beyond that he may not be knowing anything about his friend-in-crime,” he added.