Did Home Ministry Sit On Crucial Info That Could Have Prevented Hyderabad Twin Blasts?

Every time terror strikes the country, questions over failure of intelligence and information sharing crop up. Thursday's twin blasts in Hyderabad may well be yet another such instance. Did the Home Ministry sit on crucial information? CNN-IBN accessed a key interrogation report of an Indian Mujahideen (IM) suspect where he confessed to doing a recce of Dilsukh Nagar in 2012.

Four months ago, Delhi police had arrested a suspected IM operative Maqbool who informed the interrogators about a possible blast in Hyderabad. Maqbool and his associates conducted a recce in three areas of Hyderabad on a motorcycle. The areas included Dilsukh Nagar, Begum Bazaar and Abids in Hyderabad. He also provided details of who all he was in contact with locally and how he trained many in assembling bombs using urea, diesel and cracker powder.

The suspect even told interrogators that they wanted to prepare IEDs so that blasts can be triggered near theatres. Maqbool and his associates were involved in explosions in Hyderabad and Nanded.

Significantly, Thursday's twin blasts took place near two old city theatres - Konark and Venkatadri. The police's interrogation report also states that Maqbool was an associate of the Riyaz Bhatkal and his targets included Bodh Gaya in Bihar. The report states his involvements in blasts in Lamba theatre in Secunderabad in 2000. Sharda theatre in Maharashtra's Nanded in the year 2000 and blast in Lal Darwaza area of Hyderabad in the same year.

This interrogation report now raises a big question mark - was all this was shared with Hyderabad Police and whether the fresh inputs Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde spoke of were different from what was already known four months ago. Or, was this an intelligence failure again?

Here's the full text of the Delhi Police Special Cell interrogation report:

• The Special Cell, Delhi Police had busted an Indian Mujahideen Module with the arrest of four persons, namely, Asad Khan (aged 33 years) r/o Tawakkal Nagar, Naigaon, Distt. Aurangabad, Maharashtra, Imran Khan (aged 31 years) r/o Peer, Bhurahan Nagar near Masjid-e-Saalehind, Nanded, Maharashtra, Sayed Feroz @ Hamza (aged 38 years) r/o Shukarwarpath, Pune, Maharashtra and Landge Irfan Mustafa (aged 30 years) s/o Landge Mustafa Usman r/o Raj Nagar Dargah, Darya Road, Mukund Nagar, Ahmed Nagar, Maharashtra and explosives, detonators and other incriminating material had been recovered. With their arrest the serial blasts of 1stAugust, 2012 were worked out.
• Sustained interrogation of the accused arrested by us revealed that a person, namely, Sayed Maqbool @ Zuber, S/o Syed Haji, R/o Samtam Nagar, Near Madina Masjid, Dharmabad, Nanded, Maharashtra was in close association with them and together they planned to commit fiyadeen attacks on the Buddhist shrines in Bodh Gaya in Bihar as retaliation to the alleged atrocities being committed upon Muslims in Myanmar. Their plan had the approval and support of the Bhatkal brothers. Sayed Maqbool was arrested after great deal of efforts on 23rd October 2012 from Hyderabad where he had been hiding to evade his arrest.
• Maqbool came in contact with Imran through a common friend. The latter introduced Maqbool to Asad and Irfan. Maqbool taught them how to make a bomb by using urea, diesel and fire cracker powder at Asad's farmhouse in Aurangabad. In April 2012, Imran introduced Maqbool to the Bhatkal brothers. Before the Pune serial blasts of 1st August, Maqbool, Irfan, Imran and Asad had discussed their plan of carrying out a fidayeen attack on Buddhist shrines at Bodh Gaya, Bihar. Since Bhatkals wanted to avenge the death of Qateel Siddiqui, they decided to carry out bomb blasts at Pune first.
• About a month before Ramzan in 2012, Maqbool helped Imran in doing a recce of Dilkhush Nagar, Begum Bazar and Abids in Hyderabad on a motorcycle. This was done on the instruction of Riyaz Bhatkal.
• Maqbool began his criminal career along with one Azam Gauri @ Aleem r/o Warangal, Andra Pradesh (killed in a police encounter in 2000). His first criminal act was the murder of Krishna Moorthy (FIR No. 220/1999, u/ss. 302/120-B/34 IPC read with sec. 25/27 Arms Act, PS Bodhan, District Nizamabad in which he has been convicted for life. However, he was released from jail in October 2009 after commutation of his sentence.
• His next criminal act was the murder of one Devender (Case FIR No. 195/1999, u/ss. 302/120-B/34 IPC read with ss. 25/27 Arms Act, PS CID, Andhra Pradesh), who had allegedly encroached on a Masjid land in Uppal, A.P.
• Maqbool was also involved in the murder of Mahaveer Prasad (Case FIR No. 172/2000, u/ss. 302/34 read with s. 6 Explosive Substances Act, PS Afzal Ganj, Hyderabad City), a jeweller. Here the motive was robbery.

Maqbool was instrumental in the formation of IMMM (Indian Muslim Mohammadin Mujahidin; a terrorist organization) at village Mancharia in 1999 alongwith Azam Gauri and Roshan Baig. They worked under the garb of social reformists by showing that their objectives were -

(1) To stop dowry system in society.

(2) To fight against corruption and

(3) To stop pornographic films.

Azam Gauri had taught Maqbool how to prepare IEDs so that they can cause blasts in those theatres where blue films were being shown.

Maqbool alongwith others were involved in the following bomb blast cases:

• Bomb blast at Kaketiya Hotel, Lal Darwaza (FIR No. 01/2000, u/ss. 4/5 Explosive Substances Act, PS Moghalpura, District Hyderabad City)
• Blast at Sharda theatre (FIR No. 28/2000, u/ss. 307/120-B IPC read with ss. 3/4/5 Explosive Substances Act, PS Itwara, District Nanded.
• Blast in Lamba Theatre, Secunderabad (FIR No. 31/2000, u/s. 120-B IPC read with ss. 4/5/6 Explosive Substances Act, PS Begumpet, Secunderabad, Hyderabad City,
• Blast in the House of Azam Ghori while preparing IEDs. (FIR No.28/1998 u/s 307 IPC read with Sec. 3/4/5 Explosive Substances Act, PS Dharmabad, District Nanded.
• Other cases in which he is involved are as below:-
• FIR No. 39/2000, u/ss. 120-B/153-A IPC, PS CID, Andhra Pradesh (a case of conspiracy).
• FIR No. 28/2000, u/s. 25 Arms Act, PS Dharmabad, District Nanded (recovery of fire arms only).
• Maqbool is also close to Abdul Rauf, r/o Shahidabad (leader of AIMIM - All Indian Majlis Itehad-ul Muslimi, a political party) and one Nashruddin. Both Abdul Rauf and Nashruddin have been involved in Hiren Pandya murder case of the year 2003. Maqbool was appointed as the Dharmabad District President of AIMIM by Abdul Rauf.
• Further investigation is going on.