Author: Pervez Iqbal Siddiqui
Publication: The Times of India
Date: September 22, 2008
In a major breakthrough, investigators probing
the recent serial blasts in cities across India, including Delhi, have picked
up some important clues to link more than eight well-established but low-profile
businessmen to the widespread devastations.
Apart from two businessmen from UP, two from Ahmedabad and five from Maharashtra,
MP, Karnataka and Kerala have been identified as people funding the SIMI-IM-LeT
module busted by Delhi police on Sunday.
Significantly, Azamgarh is the source of not
only the manpower but also the funding for these terror strikes. A prominent
businessman from Azamgarh and one from an adjoining district have been identified
as the main financiers of the serial blasts in Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Jaipur,
Ahmedabad and Delhi. Sleuths of the STF, ATS and the UP police are learned
to have thrown a cordon around the houses and office premises of the two suspects
and are keeping a close watch on them.
There was some reluctance on the part of authorities
to order action against these financiers, as most of the officers attending
the Delhi briefing reportedly asked for "clinching evidence'' against
the businessmen before laying their hands on them.
"We have to arm ourselves with all proof
before we pull them by their collars because there's no room for a mistake,''
an STF officer is reported to have told Delhi police officers while collecting
details of the financiers.
A team from each of the six states is believed
to have been briefed about the financiers in Delhi after which raids were
under way in their respective states, said a source. Sources said a bulk of
information provided to the Delhi police by the arrested terrorists was confirmed
by the UP ATS.
