Yasin Bhatkal admits role in terror attacks, gives leads on 4 blasts

Mangaloretoday/NDTV

New Delhi, Aug 31: Alleged co-founder of Indian Mujahideen, Yasin Bhatkal, has reportedly accepted his involvement in various terror attacks in the country, sources in the National Investigating Agency or NIA said today.

 

Sources in the NIA, which has a 12-day custody of one of India’s most wanted men, also said Bhatkal has given leads about four such blasts - Ahmedabad  (2008), German Bakery in Pune (2010), Bangalore’s Chinnaswamy Stadium (2010) and Mumbai’s Zaveri Bazar (2011).

Raids and searches are being carried out on the basis of the leads, sources said.

Bhatkal, 30, was arrested on Wednesday night along with another alleged Indian Mujahideen member Asadullah Akhtar on the porous Indo-Nepal border in a joint operation between the NIA and Bihar Police.

As alleged head and co-founder of the Mujahideen, Bhaktal is accused of planning and executing some of the deadliest terror attacks in India in recent years, the most recent being February’s twin blasts in a crowded market in Hyderabad in which 16 people were killed and 80 injured.

His arrest triggered a BJP versus Bihar government tirade in which the BJP accused former ally Nitish Kumar of desisting from seeking Bhatkal’s custody in order to placate Muslims in an election year