The "Uncle", who was instructing the two arrested suspected terrorists to carry out terror acts in Mumbai on Sunday, could be Bashir Khan, an absconding accused in the 1993 serial bomb blasts case, ATS officials said today.
"The verification to establish the identity of this Uncle is
still on. We cannot conclude that it is Bashir Khan
yet, but at the same time we also cannot deny. The Uncle could be Bashir," an ATS official said.
Bashir Khan, is an aide of Tiger Memon, who is closely associated with underworld fugitive Dawood Ibrahim and one of the masterminds of the 1993 blasts. Khan is accused of having transported explosives to Mumbai prior to the serial blasts.
The ATS had on Sunday arrested two persons -- Abdul Latif alias Guddu (29) and Riyaz Ali alias Rehan (23) -- for
allegedly planning to carry out terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
The duo had allegedly conducted a recce of three targets in the city -- headquarters of public sector petroleum
company Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Thakkar Mall in suburban Mumbai and Mangaldas Market in south Mumbai.
According to the ATS, the duo was directed by a person addressed as "Uncle".
"The 'Uncle' is a close aide of Dawood and had escaped to Pakistan following the 1993 serial bomb blasts," the
official said.