Interference from politicians in terror cases creates added confusion, giving operatives enough time to give investigators the slip. Vicky Nanjappa reports
Yasin Bhatkal, the chief of terror outfit Indian Mujahideen who was recently arrested by Indian security agencies, came across as extremely bitter and disillusioned about his mentor -- the Inter Services Intelligence -- during his interrogation.
Riaz Bhatkal, a key operative of the IM who was in charge of funding terror activities, has reportedly left for Dubai, according to sources in the Intelligence Bureau. Riaz, who is originally a resident of Bhatkal in Karnataka, was one of the main agents of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba in India before taking active part in the operations of the IM.
The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad has arrested an alleged Students Islamic Movement of India operative, who was wanted in the 2008 serial bomb blasts in the city, from Belgam in Karnataka.
In the backdrop of arrest of Yasin Bhatkal, alleged founder of Indian Mujahideen, condemned convict in German Bakery blast case, Himayat Baig has approached the Bombay high court seeking reinvestigation into his case by a neutral agency or a court-appointed Special Investigation Team.
Upping the ante against Amit Shah after his "fireworks in Pakistan" remark, Janata Dal-United and the Congress on Friday approached the Election Commission demanding that the Bharatiya Janata Party chief be barred from entering Bihar for "inciting communal tension" till the election process ends.
How did Mansoor Peerbhoy, an academically bright, suave and soft-spoken young man, who never exhibited any jihadist tendencies, go on to head the Indian Mujahideen's media cell?
The agencies interrogating Indian Mujahideen commander Yasin Bhatkal find him tough to deal with. At first he tried to wriggle out of an arrest but later seemed determined to take on the investigators.
This is for the first time that the US has slammed sanctions against an ISIS leader in India.
A highly-placed source in the BJP told Rediff.com, "Just as the Sangh dislikes the pseudo-secularism of the Congress, the Sangh also has a distaste for the pseudo Hindutva that the BJP is trying to practise in maddening race for power."
A key operative of terror outfit Indian Mujahideen was on Friday arrested from Indira Gandhi International airport in New Delhi by the National Investigating Agency.
Indian Mujahideen was planning to send letters "soaked with poison" to their targets to kill them, the Delhi Police has told a court here in its charge sheet filed against six suspected men of the terror outfit in a case of allegedly setting up an illegal arms factory in New Delhi.
A suspected ISIS recruit was detained at the Pune airport on Tuesday as he was leaving the country and flying to Dubai for onward journey to Syria.
Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa enumerates the 5 deadly modules created by the Indian Mujahideen and what their strengths and goals are
Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal sought the help of Nepal-based Maoists for procuring arms and ammunition but it did not fructify as they quoted very high rates, the National Investigation Agency has said in its charge sheet filed in a Delhi court.
After the arrest of Yasin Bhatkal, Mirza Shahnawaz Baig has been strengthening the Azamgarh module to plan Indian Mujahideen's next move. Vicky Nanjappa reports
A fresh controversy erupted in the Bharatiya Janata Party with senior leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi making an angry outburst against induction of expelled Janata Dal-United leader Sabir Ali whom he called a "friend" of terrorist Yasin Bhatkal and mocked that Dawood Ibrahim could be the next entrant.
In a chilling revelation, Indian Mujahideen chief Yasin Bhatkal, who is currently in the custody of Delhi police, has told interrogators that the terror group was planning to use a small nuclear bomb while carrying out a devastating strike in the industrial city of Surat in Gujarat.
The Indian Mujahideen's module in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, comprises the most motivated and best-trained operatives of the terror group, says Vicky Nanjappa
This was the motto of the Karachi project - a covert programme conceptualized by the Inter Services Intelligence in 2003 and kicked off by Indian Mujahideen terrorist Yasin Bhatkal five years later.
The lax security in jails is under scanner with recent episodes of breaks and murders of inmates, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
According to sources in the National Investigation Agency, four persons planned and executed the twin blasts in Hyderabad on February 21, which claimed 16 lives. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
A dossier on the Indian Mujahideen, which was prepared following its resurrection post the Batla House encounter, had termed the outfit as a "start to finish jihad factory."
The three alleged Indian Mujahideen terrorists arrested in the national capital on Thursday were planning an attack masterminded by Yasin Bhatkal, reports Vicky Nanjappa
Two days after twin blasts rocked Hyderabad, a team of the National Investigation Agency raided several places including villages in Bihar's Darbhanga and Samastipur districts in search of operatives of Indian Mujahideen, police officials said on Saturday.
Mumbai top cop Rakesh Maria's trusted man Dinesh Kadam also helped crack the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts' case, sent Abu Salem to jail and helped bust the Indian Mujahideen terror network in Mumbai.
'IM has expanded its area of operations into Nepal, which is now the biggest hub for IM operatives.'
The National Investigation Agency has stepped up the heat on Indian Mujahideen operative Tahseen Akhtar. The agency, which has a warrant against him, has been heavy on his trail since the recent Bangalore blasts. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
Delhi Police on Thursday claimed to have cracked an Indian Mujahideen module with the arrest of three persons, who were suspected to be involved in the low-intensity blasts in Pune two months ago.
The Indian Mujahideen follows the same pattern as its creator, Lashkar-e-Tayiba.
The interrogation of terror operative Abu Jundal has shed more light on the LeT's plans and the IM's operations. Vicky Nanjappa reports
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squasd, probing the 13/7 blasts case, is on hunt for five more alleged Indian Mujahideen operatives suspected to have played key role in the terror attacks, besides the group's top operative Yasin Bhatkal and two planters, police said on Sunday.
It might have taken several years, but the intelligence and security agencies in several states recently tracked down and arrested dreaded terrorists involved in creating havoc in the country. It began with the arrest of Zabbiuddin Ansari, an accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, then came the arrest of Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal followed by Lashkar-e-Tayiba bomb maker Abdul Karim Tunda, Zaveri Bazaar bomber Waqas Ahmed and now IM chief Tehsin Akthar. In a five-part series, Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa describes how each of these terrorists were painstakingly tracked by the Intelligence Bureau and arrested by the security agencies.
With the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad naming Dubai-based Muzaffar Kola, an associate of jailed 1993 serial blasts accused Mustaffa Dossa, as a wanted accused in the 13/7 triple blasts case, the link between underworld and home grown-terror outfit Indian Mujahideen has surfaced
Bharatiya Janata Party Vice President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has been summoned as an accused by a Delhi court in a defamation complaint filed against him by former JD-U leader Sabir Ali for allegedly linking him with arrested Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad claims that it has cracked the 13/7 serial blasts case. But the probe will be remembered for the many monumental blunders that left investigators red-faced, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
The Delhi Police on Friday filed a charge sheet in a court against suspected top Indian Mujahideen operatives Tehsin Akhtar, Zia-Ur-Rahman and three others for allegedly setting up an illegal arms factory in the national capital from where a huge quantity of arms and ammunition were recovered.
Proceedings related to terror masterminds Yasin Bhatkal and Abdul Karim Tunda in 2013 hogged the limelight in Delhi courts, which brought down the curtains in the Batla House encounter case by giving life term to a suspected terrorist of the Indian Mujahideen module.
The seizure of Chinese guns at the Zephyr apartments in Mangalore in September belonging to the Indian Mujahideen has been a wake up call for the Indian agencies. This was an indicator that the IM sought to go beyond the bombs and even indulged in the use of arms for future terror strikes.
A suspected hawala operator, who allegedly handed over Rs 10 lakh to fugitive Indian Mujahiddin operative Yasin Bhatkal for executing the July 13 triple blasts that killed 27 people in Mumbai, has been arrested from Delhi, the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad said on Tuesday.