Author: Haidar Naqvi
Publication: The Hindustan Times
Date: July 15, 2006
Intelligence sleuths are carrying out a massive
operation in Uttar Pradesh to dig out the face behind the 11/7 blasts in Mumbai.
They are questioning SIMI cadres in Kanpur, one of the strongest bases of
the Islamic network in north India.
SIMI members in Aligarh, Ghazipur, Allahabad,
Varanasi and Ambedkar Nagar are also being quizzed. Sketches of the Mumbai
blast suspects are being shown to them for identification. Also, bank accounts
of 22 SIMI cadres are being scrutinised.
On Thursday and Friday, teams of central agencies
and Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), Mumbai, jointly interrogated Mohd Aamir, state
president of SIMI, inside Kanpur Jail.
The sleuths questioned Aamir about SIMI's
network and links with terror groups in Bangladesh. The teams are also trying
to find out if there are any links between Aamir's unexpected surrender and
the Mumbai blasts.
The ATS sought details from Aamir about what
he did during the five years when he was on the run from the police. Aamir
has been accused of sedition and of having a hand in the Kanpur blasts.
"The interrogation sessions ran for hours,"
said the jail sources, adding that it conducted only by the two teams. No
one from the state police was involved, they said.
On Thursday night, the ATS picked up the youngest
of Aamir's siblings for information about the whereabouts of Mohd Salman -
another brother and former district president of SIMI. The sleuths released
him after interrogation.
A raid was also carried out to trace another
SIMI member, Mohd Ashfaq, involved in the Kanpur riots. Ashfaq had fled to
Dubai. After five years in Dubai, Ashfaq returned to Kanpur about two months
ago.
