Five Indian Mujahideen men arrested from Mumbai
24th September 2008
In yet another pointer to suspected SIMI-Indian Mujaheedin involvement in terror attacks in Delhi and other parts of the country, Mumbai Police claimed to have arrested five people, including the man who made bomb circuits used to carry out blasts in the national capital.
The cops have also hinted at the Indian Mujahideen being controlled from Pakistan.
Mumbai Commissioner of Police Hasan Gafoor said the next target of the militants was Mumbai, the country's financial capital.
The five arrested accused have been identified as Afzal Mutahib Usmani, Mohammad Saddik Shaikh, Mohammad Aarif Shaikh, Ahmed Zakir Shaikh and Shaikh Mohammad Ansari, all of whom hail from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, the place linked to other militants arrested in connection with Delhi blasts.
Mohammad Saddik Shaikh is learnt to be the one of the founder members of Indian Mujahideen.
All the arrested are suspected to be involved in the Sankatmochan temple blast in Varanasi, serial blasts on Mumbai trains, attacks on courts in Lucknow and Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh, explosions in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Jaipur and planting of unexploded bombs in Surat, police said.
Also, Aarif was the one who made the bomb-circuits which were used in Delhi blasts and was allegedly in "close touch" with Atif, the head of Indian Mujaheedin and suspected mastermind of Delhi blasts.
"All the five arrested were involved in all the blasts across the country since 2005," Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rakesh Maria told mediapersons here.
While Usmani was arrested in Azamgarh, Saddik has been held in north-east Nehru Nagar in Mumbai, Aarif from north-east Kurla, Ansar from north-east Chembur and Zakir from Bhiwandi in neighbouring Thane district.
Source: The Times of India