Delhi Police and central agencies on Tuesday arrested key Indian Mujahideen leader Tehseen Akhtar, who is considered to be the mastermind behind the 2013 Patna serial blasts, at a rally venue of BJP's PM candidate Narendra Modi.
A screen grab of an Indian Mujahideen poster
The arrest comes barely a day after Barkat Ali, an alleged accomplice of suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorist Mohd Sakib Ansari, was arrested in Jodhpur on Monday.
This arrest, however, is significant as in the past Nitish Kumar's government has hesitated from decisively acting against Indian Mujahideen's training grounds in Bihar, especially the Darbhanga module.
In the past, Intelligence agencies have reported on the training of over 100 youth from north Bihar to staff the Darbhanga module. The selection of Darbhanga reportedly owes to the hospitable conditions among the local people and its proximity to the Nepal border. IM cells have also been reported to be active in Madhubani, Samastipur and Madhepura districts.
When IM co-founder Yasin Bhatkal was arrested from a location along the porous Bihar-Nepal border in a joint operation by the NIA and the Bihar Police last year, the latter did not so much as seek his custody, to the surprise of everybody, forcing Bihar BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi to hit out at the freshly divorced ally: "There should not be a soft corner for people involved in terror activities," he had said, accusing the Nitish government of harbouring terrorists.
Interestingly, Akhtar is the nephew of JD(U) leader Taki Akhtar, but the latter claims he has severed all ties with Tehseen, DNA had reported, quoting a local daily.
Seven low intensity blasts had rocked Patna on October 27 last year just minutes before BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's rally in the city that day. The explosions went off on the route to the rally venue and just outside the venue itself. Unexploded bombs were also found at the venue after the rally.
The NIA had then held Tehseen to be the mastermind of the attacks and issued an arrest warrant against him, also announcing a reward of Rs 10 lakh for information that could lead to his arrest.
Tehseen is also close to Yasin Bhatkal, co-founder of the Indian Mujahideen who is currently under arrest.
Six suspects were named in connection with the Patna blasts. One of them, Tariq alias Anul, was injured in the Patna railway station blast and was hospitalised. Another, named MOhammed Imtiaz, was arrested as he tried to flee Patna.
The other four were Tehseen, Haider, Taufiq and Niman.
In September,Asadullah Akhtar alias Haddi, who had been arrested along with Yasin Bhatkal, had led investigators to a flat in Mangalore which he said had been used by Tehseen, Waqas and him as a bomb factory.
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