Police confirm IM hand behind Patna blasts

The Bihar Police, with the help of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Jharkhand police, have been able to decode the serial blasts which took place in Patna on Sunday just ahead of Narendra Modi’s rally. Top police sources confirmed that Indian Mujahideen (IM) was behind the explosions.

“Altogether six people, including the fugitive IM operative Tehsin Akhtar, are believed to be involved in the blasts,” said Manu Maharaj, Senior Superintendent of Police, Patna. The state police and NIA have interrogated the two apprehended terror modules — Imtiaz and Ainul Haq alias Tausif — at an undisclosed location and are hopeful of getting to the bottom of the matter in the next 48 hours.

“We have sufficient leads in the case, which may even help crack the Bodh Gaya serial blasts. But right now we can’t share more information as it may hamper our investigation,” said the SSP.

Sources in the intelligence department, however, said that one of the arrested accused, Ainul, eventually died as he had suffered splinter injuries while planting a bomb at Patna junction on Sunday.

Though the Bihar police did not confirm Ainul’s death, Jharkhand DGP said the suspect, who belonged to Ranchi, had indeed died while being treated at Patna’s Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Science.

The Jharkhand police, who had detained Imtiaz’s father and brother from Dhurva in Ranchi, however, released both of them on Monday after they found that the two did not maintain any relationship with Imtiaz any more.

“Actually, Ranchi IM module is the new arrival on the terror scene. After Yasin Bhatkal’s arrest, Tehsin wanted to fill in the vacuum as he was an expert in making and planting bombs. So he recruited fresh lads from Ranchi, but their lack of experience made his (Tehsin’s) plan go haywire,” said the IB source.

Tehsin, alias Hasan, alias Monu, is said to have been groomed by Bhatkal and wanted to avenge his arrest. Originally a native of Samastipur in Bihar, Tehsin has been involved in Hyderabad blasts case, besides carrying out terror attacks in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

The NIA has also been looking for Tehsin, who is suspected to be involved in Bodh Gaya serial blasts too.

Sources, who interrogated Imtiaz, were told that Tehsin brainwashed a fresh lot of IM sleeper cells in the name of Muzaffarnagar riots and targeted Narendra Modi’s rally as the first test case in the absence of IM mastermind Yasin Bhatkal.