The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Sunday arrested one Raees Ahmed for his complicity in the September 8 serial blasts that rocked the powerloom township Malegaon, killing 31 people and injuring over 300.
Raees, a suspected activist of the outlawed Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) was booked under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) subsequent to his arrest. The special MCOCA court remanded him to police custody till November 16.
ATS Chief KP Raghuvanshi told HT on Sunday that Raees had actively taken part in one of the several meetings where the conspiracy for the Malegaon blasts had been hatched.
"He is a conspirator and had the knowledge of the blast plans," Raghuvanshi added. However, ATS sources claimed that apart from being a conspirator, Raees was also one of the planters of the RDX-laced cocktail bombs that went off near the Bada Masjid area of Malegaon during the Shab-e-Barat festivities.
Raees is the brother-in-law of Shabbir Ahmed Masiullah alias Shabbir Batterywala, the prime conspirator who was earlier arrested for his role in a September 13 bomb hoax at Malegaon. He had stayed with Shabbir in Dubai for a brief period, sources added.
{{/usCountry}}Raees is the brother-in-law of Shabbir Ahmed Masiullah alias Shabbir Batterywala, the prime conspirator who was earlier arrested for his role in a September 13 bomb hoax at Malegaon. He had stayed with Shabbir in Dubai for a brief period, sources added.
{{/usCountry}}This is the third arrest made by the ATS in connection with the Malegaon blasts. Earlier, Noorul Huda Samsudoha and Shabbir Batterywala were arrested. Noorul was employed in the battery shop owned by Shabbir.