A homeopathic doctor, Syed Ismail Afaq (34), who was arrested with two others on Thursday from the city, could be the chief source of explosives for some terror attacks carried out by the Indian Mujahideen (IM), and was in touch with a “cross-border handler”, claimed city police officials.
The Central Crime Branch (CCB) secured a 12-day police custody of the three alleged IM operatives, including Afaq, on Friday.
A senior official leading the probe told The Hindu that based on internet call intercepts, they suspect that Afaq was in touch with a handler who was one of the members of the Usbah group, a pre-cursor to the Indian Mujahideen.
He claimed the handler was suspected to be at the top of the IM hierarchy, and a close associate of the ‘Bhatkal brothers’, presently believed to be in Pakistan.
However, it was difficult to point out the handler’s location as most of the conversation had taken place over Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls, added the official.
Police sources also said the digital timer devices that were recovered from the house in Bhatkal, were sophisticated and rarely used by Indian terror modules.
They said an analog timer is the most commonly used device and could only set off an explosion within a maximum of one-clock cycle, that is 12 hours, but a digital timer, like the one found on Thursday, can be set to carry off an explosion even months in advance.
