IM founder's namesake detained

Security agencies thought they had finally got hold of Indian Mujahideen founder Amir Reza Khan, but their jubilation was short-lived as it turned out that the person detained in a European country was not the man they were looking for. 

Sources said a man was detained more than a week ago on the suspicion that he was the 38-year-old Khan, but it was a case of mistaken identity.

The detained person had the same name as Khan, who is also an accused in the American Centre bombing case in Kolkata, and was picked up on this count, sources said.

However, Indian security officials posted in Europe later found out that it was not Khan. “The photograph did not match. Our security officials there checked and cross-checked his antecedents,” a senior official said.

Sources said it was highly unlikely to find Khan, who also goes by aliases Parvez, Rizwan and Muttaki, in Europe as he is reported to be still holed up in Karachi. Earlier there were reports that he had shifted to Luxembourg but Indian intelligence agencies denied it saying he was in Pakistan.

Khan, who carries a Rs 10 lakh reward on his head, was believed to be shuttling between Dubai and Karachi. Later, he allegedly fell out of favour with Pakistani spy agency ISI.

Speculation about Khan’s presence in Europe was fuelled by reports of security agencies tracing certain calls to Luxembourg two years ago. However, then itself, the agencies had said he was still in Pakistan and the call might have been routed from Luxembourg.

He used to reside in Beniapukur in Kolkata though his family belonged to Mohanpur in Bihar’s Gaya district.

In a charge sheet filed by the National Investigation Agency in 2012, Khan was named along with the Bhatkal brothers for “conspiring to commit terrorist acts” through bomb blasts at prominent places, including Delhi, with the active aid and support from their Pakistan based operatives”.