A native of Hyderabad, now reportedly residing in Bangladesh, with affiliation to the Islamic extremist group Harkat-ul-Jehad-al-Islami (HuJI) could be behind the Hyderabad Mecca Masjid blast.

Highly placed Intelligence sources told Deccan Herald that Shahid, an accused in the suicide bomb blast case targeting the Andhra Special Task Force in 2005 could have master minded the May 18 bomb blast in Hyderabad.
He reportedly owes allegiance to the Bangladesh-based Islamic extremist group HuJI and is “in charge of the south-India operations”.

“Shahid lives in Bangladesh and often travels to Pakistan and Nepal. After the suicide bomb blast case, he fled the country. His brother Jahid, a co-accused, was arrested by the Andhra  Pradesh police. Last month he was brought to Bangalore for a narco test, during which he revealed about his and his brother’s affiliation to HuJI and their militant activities. The Bangalore police wanted to probe Shahid’s role in the December 2005 IISc attack case,” the source said.

SIM story
His involvement in the suicide bomb blast case was established after the Andhra Pardesh police seized his SIM card and tracked the calls he had made from it.

“The SIM card was bought from Kolkata,” the officer said.

The enforcement agencies are now trying to establish the link between the two brothers and Sameer, an accused in the 2006 Mumbai serial train blast case.

“Last year Sameer was brought to the City for a narco test.

He said Shahid was his boss and he was carrying out the work as per his instructions.

Jahid and Sameer revealed there were several sleeper modules in south-India, including Karnataka,” added the source. “They also told us that militant attacks are more focussed in south-India because of intensified army patrolling on Indo-Pak borders.

They also spoke about training camps dotting the Indo-Bangladesh borders,” the officer said. “Jahid told us that they work for money. For big operations they get around Rs 10 lakh and for smaller blasts, they are paid between Rs 3-4 lakh. All the three are educated unemployed youth  are polyglots aged between 30 and 35 years of age. They are hardcore extremists. It is very difficult to get information from them,” he added.

Sameer’s narco test
Meanwhile, on request from the Hyderabad police, the City police have sent the CD of Sameer’s narco test to them.
“We sent the CD two-three days back. They are probing his involvement in the Mecca Masjid bomb blast case,” the officer said.
The HuJI was established in 1992, reportedly with assistance from Osama bin Laden’s International Islamic Front.