A day after the murder of suspected Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative Mohammad Qateel Siddiqui in the Yerwada jail here, a definite reason is yet to emerge. While the two jail inmates accused of the killing, Sharad Mohol and Amol Bhalerao, were arrested by the Yerwada police on Saturday, Siddiqui's relatives accused the Maharashtra Anti-terrorism Sqaud (ATS) of foul play.
In Pune to collect Siddiqui's body, his cousin Mohammad Afroz stated that he had lost faith in the police machinery. “What had he done? The police could not prove anything. They had him for six months,” he stated.
“He was murdered inside the jail while he was under ATS charge. You can understand who wanted him killed,” Mr Afroz said, suggesting that the ATS was responsible for Siddiqui's murder. He stated that he had not been given the body by Saturday evening.
Siddiqui was allegedly murdered by Mohol and Bhalerao on Friday morning. While ATS sources stated that the duo killed him because he was involved in “anti-national activities,” there is that it might have been an IM hit job, as Siddiqui was being touted as the link to IM mastermind Yasin Bhatkal.
Accused in the Bangalore Chinnaswamy stadium blast case and in the Delhi Jama Masjid blast case, he was arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police in November 2011.
