A day after the Indian Mujahideen (IM) sent an e-mail to some media houses claiming responsibility for Tuesday's Varanasi blast, the police claimed on Wednesday that the blast was planned from Pakistan and the Bhatkal brothers (Riyaz and Iqbal) were involved in it. The police have also traced the e-mail to an address at Navi Mumbai.
“The main players of IM are based in Pakistan, and they are running this. Even the Bhatkal brothers are definitely there,” Mumbai Commissioner of Police Sanjeev Dayal told journalists here.
Both Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal, thought to be in Pakistan now, are suspected to be involved in the German Bakery blast too.
As for the origin of the mail, Mr. Dayal said: “The e-mail has been traced to an address at Navi Mumbai. It was sent from an unsecured Airtel broadband WiFi connection.” He refused to name the owner of the connection, saying the person was innocent and his connection was used without his knowledge.
Mr. Dayal said the signature style of the current mail was similar to the e-mails sent previously by the module. “Primarily, the signature style of this mail matches the previous mails sent by the module. This points to the IM's involvement.”
Asked whether the sleeper cells had got activated, he said that in 2008, the Crime Branch unearthed the module and arrested a large number of people. “But around five to six persons were shown wanted even then. We will have to investigate if the same persons have become active again, or it is some new people altogether.”
