Gaya an early home for Indian Mujahideen

Gaya, which was rocked by serial bomb blasts on Sunday morning, is believed to have nurtured the origins of the Indian Mujahideen. Amir Reza Khan, a key figure behind IM’s creation, hailed from Gaya, official documents accessed by HT say. Sanjib Kr Baruah reports.

Gaya, which was rocked by serial bomb blasts on Sunday morning, is believed to have nurtured the origins of the Indian Mujahideen. Amir Reza Khan, a key figure behind IM’s creation, hailed from Gaya, official documents accessed by HT say.

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Intelligence officials also suspect that the IM may have just been another name for the Asif Reza Commando Force (ARCF) which was set up by Khan after his brother Asif Reza Khan was killed in a 2001 encounter with the Gujarat Police. ARCF was also behind the attack on the American Center in Kolkata in 2002 in which five policemen were killed and many injured.

Amir Reza Khan first came under the security forces’ scanner when his name cropped up during the investigation of the kidnapping of a businessman in Kolkata in 2000.

Amir came into contact with the LeT in Bangladesh, which asked him to mount terror attacks in India. He, in turn contacted Riyaz Bhatkal, Atif Ameen and Mohammad Sadiq who had all received weapons training in Pakistan. By 2005, they had formed the IM.