The Indian Mujahideen’s Rajasthan module was set up to avenge the killings in the Bharatpur riots in 2011, according to the four alleged outfit members arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell.
Countering reports in a section of the media, a police officer said the module had not been instructed to target any specific political leader. “During interrogation, the accused persons disclosed that fugitive Tehseen Akhtar alias Monu had brought together the module members and he had been coordinating with them and their handlers based in Pakistan. Monu, who is the de facto India head of the outfit following the arrest of Yasin Bhatkal, had been giving all the instructions to the module,” the officer said.
According to sources, one of the prime targets of the module was Ganga Mandir in Bharatpur. The plan was to execute blasts at the temple around the time of the Raksha-Bandhan festival in August.
However, families of those arrested claimed they were innocent. Farooq Engineer, father of accused Mohammad Mahruf (21), told The Hindu that his son had nothing to do with any terror activities. “A team comprising over two dozen policemen raided our house in the early hours of Sunday and took away my son. They also seized his laptop. The policemen searched our house, but found nothing incriminating. We were later told that my son was in touch with terror suspects through a social networking website.”
