10 December,2010 06:39 AM IST | | J Dey
Varanasi blast probe points towards involvement of IM terrorist Mohsin Choudhary;u00a0 officials see similarity between Jama Masjid attack and Tuesday blast
INVESTIGATIONS by Mumbai Police indicate that wanted Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorist Mohsin Choudhary might have forwarded the e-mail minutes after the Varanasi blast on Tuesday.
More than 50 members from the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) are in Varanasi to probe the blast.
Their findings reveal that the Varanasi blast is similar to the Jama Masjid attack in New Delhi ahead of the Commonwealth Games.
Officials are unable to figure out how the device went off without much explosive content in it.
The NIA and IB officials suspect the handiwork of local miscreants having links with the IM. "There is a possibility that local gangs were involved in the Tuesday blast," said an official.
Preliminary investigations by the Mumbai police have indicated that Pune techie Mansoor Asgar Peerbouy trained Choudhary.
Mumbai Crime Branch arrested Peerbouy in 2008 after he was accused of sending an e-mail through Kenneth Hayward's computer.
Peerbouy had trained Choudhary, who is a computer engineer himself, to hack into computers and infecting bots through malware.
Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) had launched a massive manhunt for Choudhary soon after the German Bakery blast in Pune on February 13 this year but he has managed to escape the dragnet so far.
ATS Chief Rakesh Maria said there is no major breakthrough in the case yet.
Officials are investigating if the CCTV footage in Varanasi matches with what has been obtained from the German Bakery blasts in Pune.
They are scanning the recordings to figure out if there are any common links in the two blasts.
NIA team is also running a check on whether members of the module involved in the New Delhi and Pune blasts could be behind the Varanasi blast on Tuesday evening.
These startling facts came to light after NIA officials questioned Shahzad Ahmad recently who was arrested for his alleged involvement in gunning Inspector M C Sharma of Delhi Police in 2008.
Ahmad told investigators that a sleeper cell under Choudhary was active in and around Pune.
About Mohsin
Mohsin Choudhary is believed to be IM's founder member and Chief Riyaz Bhatkal's trusted lieutenant. He was also overseeing the outfit's finances and is believed to have been transferred from Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives.
