The Dukhtaran-e-Millat (DeM), an all-woman ''soft-terrorist'' outfit in Jammu and Kashmir, appears to be closely connected with Monday's twin bomb blasts in Mumbai, investigations into the incident have revealed. Security agencies are believed to have identified the two women who boarded the bomb-laden taxi that was left to explode at the Gateway of India. But their identities are being kept under wraps.
In a report to the Home Ministry, security agencies have said the two women are members of the DeM, which is banned under the POTA. Their antecedents are being pursued not only in Mumbai, but also by the Intelligence Bureau-led Multi-Agency Centre, which is providing relevant inputs to investigators.
Investigators in Mumbai are also pursuing the underworld angle in the blasts. They believe that the bombs, far from being crudely fabricated, were highly sophisticated since RDX was a key element.
The underworld link is reinforced by the belief in certain knowledgable quarters of the Mumbai police that the blasts were an act of revenge or desperation on the part of Dawood Ibrahim's Karachi-based associate, Mushtaque, alias Tiger Memon.
One of Tiger Memon's Karachi properties, Kwaish Crowne Plaza, is believed to have been attacked by the Chhota Rajan gang recently.
The explosives could have been brought from J&K with the help of the DeM members who in turn may have handed it over to cadres of the SIMI.
What is baffling intelligence operatives and police investigators is the nexus that appears to have developed between the J&K terrorist outfits, SIMI and the Mumbai underworld. Sources said the ''underworld hand'' cannot be ruled out and, considering the dimensions of the case, a deeper probe is now being conducted.
Another factor why intelligence agencies and the Mumbai crime branch are pursuing the underworld connection is that the explosives used in the twin blasts had a ''striking similarity'' with the ones used in the 1993 serial blasts.
NSG bomb experts flown to Mumbai also seem to have come to a similar conclusion.
The Mumbai crime branch has already been sounded about the observations made by NSG experts. Intelligence officials here said that without a possible nexus between the underworld and the militant outfits it would not have been possible to smuggle in explosives into the city.
Secondly, the module used in the twin explosions is said to be completely different from the ones used in the previous five explosions. The use of a module having elements of the underworld, militant outfits and the SIMI could be part of a wider strategy.
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1993 serial blasts: Ten years later
** Recap: A series of 13 blasts in Mumbai kills 257 persons, injures more than 700
** Main accused: Dawood Ibrahim, Tiger Memon, Anees Ibrahim and Abu Salem
** Bollywood angle: Actor Sanjay Dutt accused of having allowed use of his garage to store arms. He kept a gun, which he later told his friends to destroy.
** Status: The trial, which began in 1995, has been heard by three judges and is no nearer to final verdict. While Salem is in a Portugal jail, other key players have found safe haven in Pakistan
** Why the delay: As trial reached its fag end in 2002, two accused Eijaz Pathan and Mustaffa Dossa were deported, giving new twist to case. The trial hasn't moved since.
** Final verdict: May take some
months. Those convicted can move the higher courts, in which case the final
outcome may be delayed by several years.