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Delhi cops question man held for Coimbatore blasts
Delhi Police is probing the role of Hamid Sheikh, an alleged member of the Shahabuddin Brigade, the southern wing of the Indian Mujahideen (IM), for his role in the serial blasts in Delhi.
Delhi Police is probing the role of Hamid Sheikh, an alleged member of the Shahabuddin Brigade, the southern wing of the Indian Mujahideen (IM), for his role in the serial blasts in Delhi. Sheikh was arrested by Kerala Police on Thursday night.
Sheikh, the police said, was living in Yamuna Vihar in northeast Delhi for the last eight months under the fake name of Yusuf. He is an accused in the 1998 Coimbatore serial blasts case where 58 people were killed. The blasts took place before BJP Leader L.K. Advani was to address a rally.
Police said the accused, an expert in making bombs was a close associate of Riyaz Bhatkal, a key IM members wanted for serial blasts across the country.
The Special Cell of Delhi Police would seek his custody to probe his role in the September 13 blasts in Delhi. The police said he is also linked to the terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT).
“Hamid was living in Yamuna Vihar in Delhi for the last eight months. He also had a hideout in Okhla,” said a senior police officer.
The police said he is an expert in making bombs and was in touch with the leaders of LeT and had close contacts with Bangladesh-based terror group Harkat-Ul-Jihad-ul-Islami.
“We are trying to ascertain whether he provided logistical support to the Delhi bombers or not. We will be interrogating him to probe his links with Atif Amin, the head of the Delhi wing of the IM who was killed in Batla House encounter on September 19,” said the officer. Police were trying to ascertain who rented the house to Sheikh and whether he too provided logistical support to the Delhi bombers.
“It is too early to comment on his (Sheikh) role in Delhi blasts but we are interrogating him,” said CB Mathew, DGP (Intelligence), Kerala Police.