Four Indian Mujahideen suspects, including Waqas sent to police custody

New Delhi: Four suspected terrorists of Indian Mujahideen (IM), including its top member and wanted Pakistani national Zia-Ur-Rehman alias Waqas, have been sent to police custody till 2 April by a Delhi court. According to the sources, Waqas, who was arrested outside Ajmer Railway Station on 22 March, was brought to the national capital by Special Cell of Delhi Police. He was produced on the same day before a concerned judge here who remanded him to custody till 2 April. [caption id=“attachment_1448291” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] Similarly, his three associates – Mohammad Mahruf (21), Mohammad Waqar Azhar alias Haneef (21), both residents of Jaipur, and Shaquib Ansari alias Khalid (25), a resident of Jodhpur, were arrested by the police yesterday and brought to Delhi. Sources said these three accused were produced before the judge here yesterday and were remanded to police custody till 2 April after special cell said that their custodial interrogation was required to unearth the “entire conspiracy”. With the arrest of these four accused from Rajasthan, the special cell claimed that they have averted a “spectacular terror attack” during the upcoming elections. Waqas was wanted in connection with several bomb blasts in the country and is considered to be a close aide of IM co-founder Yasin Bhatkal, who was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) last year along with suspected terrorist Asadullah Akhtar. The arrest of these accused from Rajasthan backs NIA’s claim that a new module of IM has been set up in the state. In its charge sheet filed against Bhatkal, Akhtar and two other suspected members of the banned terror outfit, NIA had said that members of Rajasthan module were “highly motivated” to carry out terrorist activities in the country. It had also said that members of the outfit’s Rajasthanmodule were in regular contact with Riyaz Bhatkal, a top IM operative who is based in Pakistan. “Investigation has also established the emergence of a new module of IM operatives in Rajasthan, the members of which were in regular contact with Riyaz Bhatkal and were highly motivated to carry out terrorist attacks,” the NIA had said. PTI