IM may be behind 2005 Delhi blasts

In a revelation of sorts, Haddi has confirmed that IM’s Azamgarh module was responsible for the Delhi blasts and Atif Ameen, killed in the 2008 Batla House encounter, was the chief perpetrator.

Raising the 2005 Delhi bombing that left 53 dead and more than a 100 injured and plunged the capital into darkness on Diwali eve might be the doing of Indian Mujahideen and not LeT, as revealed by arrested IM operative Assadullah Akhtar alias Haddi.

Just a fortnight after the October 29 attack, Tariq Ahmed Dar, an MNC sales representative who doubled as a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) spokesman in the Valley, was arrested from Pulwama and handed over to the Delhi Police on November 13, 2005.

He was arrested after Intelligence Bureau intercepted his satellite phone call to LeT commander Abu Al Qama boasting about the attack. Later, five persons including a Srinagar university student Mohammed Rafiq Shah were arrested and charged along with 38 others.

However, in a revelation of sorts, Haddi has confirmed that IM’s Azamgarh module was responsible for the Delhi blasts and Atif Ameen, killed in the 2008 Batla House encounter, was the chief perpetrator.

He also said the device for the blasts was made by expert bomb maker Arif Badar with Mohammed Sadiq Israr Sheikh personally supervising the entire operation. Sheikh, a close confidante of IM founders Riyaz Bhatkal and Amitr Raza Khan, was arrested in November 2008.

Although Sheikh in his interrogation report admits to IM being behind the Delhi blasts, Dar, Shah and others are still under trial for the attack. Delhi Police may stick to its guns but counter-terror experts know that Dar is paying the price of trying to extract money from LeT by claiming the 2005 attack.