Naquee arrest a closed chapter, says ATS chief

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Tuesday refused to comment on the controversy surrounding the arrest of one of the suspects, Naquee Ahmed Wasi Ahmed, originally hailing from Darbhanga in Bihar. ATS chief and Additional Director-General Rakesh Maria told journalists here that the arrests were a closed chapter for the ATS and it was now focussing on tracking the three wanted accused in the 13/7 case.

(In New Delhi, Union Home Secretary R.K. Singh said Naquee was an informer in a particular operation.)

Mr. Maria said the ATS knew about the involvement of the Indian Mujahideen (IM) in the blasts a month after the July 13, 2011 occurrence, in which 27 persons were killed and 127 injured.

“By August 22, we knew that there was an IM hand in the blasts,” he said, adding the arrest of Haroon Rashid Naik (33) in August last year in a fake currency case gave the ATS leads about the economic trail of the blasts. The ATS suspects that Haroon is involved in the planning of the 13/7 conspiracy.

Mr. Maria said it was Imran alias Yasin Bhatkal who asked Naquee to come set a base in Mumbai.

“He picks up boys from various parts and asks them to settle down in important places.” Mr. Maria said Yasin Bhatkal sent Rs 1.5 lakh to Naqee in Mumbai through another arrested accused, Nadeem, in February-March last year.

SIM cards racket

Talking about the trail of the blast investigation, Mr. Maria said the ATS received more clues from a bogus SIM cards racket that was rampant in the city. “Our sources mentioned in November that a lot of bogus SIM cards were doing the rounds. We tried to identify IM users in it and found that there was connectivity among Pune, Bihar and Mumbai boys.”

Mr. Maria said Naquee and his brother were running an outlet of SIM cards in the Madanpura area and they provided these cards to Yasin Bhatkal, a wanted IM operative.

The ATS also arrested Ganesh Vitthal Tikone, an MTNL agent in the city.

He is believed to have been providing fake documents for monetary gains. He provided 400 original documents to persons arrested in the SIM cards case, Mr. Maria said.

Mr. Maria voiced concern over the spread of bogus SIM cards, which were posing a security hazard.

“In 2010, the Mumbai police did a survey of 26, 450 SIM cards which were randomly selected. It was found that 8,909 of them, which means more than 33 per cent, were bogus.”

“No one wants to take the responsibility of verification, especially for prepaid customers. We have written to the government about this,” he said.

In another case, he said, the ATS sought custody of Qateel Siddiqui, an IM operative currently lodged in a Delhi prison, for interrogation in the unsuccessful Pune Dagdusheth Halwai temple blast plan.