IM used condoms, hydrogen peroxide in bombs

mangaloretoday.com

NEW DELHI, Sep 20, 2013, DHNS: Ultras getting closer with Taliban, says arrested co-founder Yasin Bhatkal

Improvisation of home-made bomb making techniques took the Indian Mujahideen (IM) to a different level, as terror mastermind Yasin Bhatkal has told investigators that he used condoms to stuff timers into a bomb which went off less than three years ago at Sheetla Ghat on the bank of Ganga in Varanasi.

 

Bhatkal, whose original name is Muhammad Ahmad Zarar Siddibapa, had used hydrogen peroxide bought from West Bengal to make the deadly explosive cocktail, successfully experimented upon for the first time by the al-Qaeda during the 2005 London public mass transport bombings.

Anti-terror cops said that he had bought 200 litres of hydrogen peroxide from a West Bengal shop dealing in chemicals, and poured it in a sealed container, which is being verified.

To avoid the timer getting wet in the liquid explosive mixture of peroxide and acetone and becoming dud, the bomb-making expert told investigators that he inserted the timer in a condom and placed it inside the container, which was later planted at the Sheetla Ghat to carry out the blast on December 7, 2010, which left two persons dead and several injured.

He also confirmed to investigators that immediately after the blast, the IM had sent a mail from Mumbai to media houses claiming responsibility for the strike, which was reportedly done to avenge the demolition of the Babri Masjid.

The revelations have caught forensic experts off guard, as they were clueless about it so far, given the fact that using this type of liquid mixture as explosive did not have the signature of earlier IM bombs.

Previously, IM used ammonium nitrate, fuel oil and gel as the basic ingredients.

It is learnt that Bhatkal even scoffed at the forensic labs for not being able to decipher the contents of the bomb.

Taking a leaf out of al-Qaeda’s book for bomb-making was not a coincidence, as the IM is inching closer to them for want of money and inspiration, which poses a serious threat to the country’s internal security.

Sources said that some IM absconders of the Azamgarh module are already in Afghanistan, fighting for the Taliban.

Government security experts said that the IM, operating with the aide and guidance of the Pakistan’s ISI, has come closer to the Taliban.

This happened after the Bhatkal brothers, Riyaz and Iqbal, during their stay in Pakistan, interacted with the Tehreek-e-Taliban, popularly called the Pakistani Taliban — an umbrella group of terrorist organisations operating in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

The IM is believed to be distancing itself from the ISI as they have been too demanding and keeping an auditor’s eye on terror funding.

The probe subsequent to Bhatkal’s arrest revealed that the ISI had reportedly manhandled Riyaz and Iqbal over what the neighbouring country’s spy agency believed was misuse of Rs 5 crore given for carrying out terrorism.

Bhatkal is said to have disclosed that on the contrary, the Taliban in Afghanistan are least bothered about funding, provided the IM continues to conduct disruptive activities.