Mumbai:
After considerable embarrassment, claims and counter-claims, the Centre now says it is happy after all with the breakthrough that the Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad has had in the 13/7 blasts case. Yesterday, it is believed to have rapped ATS chief Rakesh Maria on the knuckles for having announced the arrest of three men in the case, saying one of them was in fact an informer.
Today, Home Secretary RK Singh seemed to do some urgent damage control as he hastened to explain that Naqqi Sheikh of Darbhanga in Bihar, arrested recently, was indeed the informer that Delhi Police claimed he was and could very well also be the man who helped Indian Mujahideen mastermind Yasin Bhatkal allegedly set up the Mumbai triple blasts. "It is true that Intelligence Bureau and Delhi Police were running an operation in which this person was an informer. But the fact that he was an informer in a particular operation in which he was supposed to lead these people to the location that is separate. That does not mean he could be or was involved in the bomb blasts. The ATS has come to that conclusion after investigation" Mr Singh said.
What Mr Singh did say was that the country's Investigating agencies needed better coordination and it was to this end that the government had decided to set up the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC). The government's Cabinet Committee on security cleared a proposal to set up the centre earlier this month.
Hours after the Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) in Maharashtra announced yesterday that it had arrested three men, including Naqqi Sheikh, for helping execute the trio of blasts in Mumbai, the Central government is believed to have pulled up ATS chief Rakesh Maria and sources said the Mumbai anti-terror team had not only picked up the wrong man, but had also blown a carefully launched covert operation to nab those involved in the terror attacks.
According to Mumbai Police officials, an angry Mr R K Singh had called up senior officials of the Mumbai police including Mr Maria. It is understood that Mr Singh not only expressed his concern but also conveyed the ministry's displeasure to the chief of the Anti-Terror Squad.
On July 13 last year, 27 people were killed and nearly 100 injured when bombs exploded in quick succession in Zaveri Bazaar, near Opera House and close to the Dadar area in the city centre. Yasin Bhatkal remains missing and it is now being alleged that Bhatkal was able to escape because of the indiscretion of the Mumbai ATS.
The excruciating embarrassment was exacerbated by the claim of the Delhi Police that Naqqi Sheikh was actually an informer for Central intelligence agencies. And sources in the home ministry, who did not want to be identified, said the announcements made in Mumbai were "premature and misleading."
Not so, said sources in Mumbai's ATS, launching a stout defence. They said their investigations showed that Naqqi was actively involved in the Mumbai plot and the hawala money trail in it. That he allegedly helped Yasin Bhatkal recruit members in what is being called the Darbhanga module of the Indian Mujahideen and that he allegedly ferried the explosives used in the Mumbai blasts.
The Mumbai ATS sources also insist that Naqqi helped Yasin Bhatkal rent an apartment in south Mumbai where the 13/7 conspiracy was allegedly planned and hatched and that he provided other logistical support like helping two other men wanted in the case get jobs - one as a gym trainer, the other at a call centre. Forensic samples have been collected from the apartment and a detailed report is awaited, the sources said.
On Monday afternoon, Rakesh Maria held a press conference in Mumbai where he described in great detail the role played by Haroon Rashid Naik who was found in Mumbai, and Nadeem Akhtar and Naqqi Sheikh who were arrested from Bihar.
But the three men arrested played peripheral roles. And though Naqqi Sheikh was allegedly in close touch with Bhatkal for three months, during which period he was tailed by the Delhi Police, the leader of the Indian Mujahideen managed to slip away. He's not alone. Home Ministry sources say that the two bombers behind the attacks are Tabrez and Waqar, Pakistani nationals, who have managed to escape because of the rivalry and consequent lack of coordination between the Delhi and Mumbai police.
Sources allege that the Delhi Police tailed Naqqi for a long time; that they knew that the Pakistani nationals were in Mumbai. It is alleged that the Delhi police team, camping in Mumbai for over a month, stayed in a rented apartment right next to the safe house in south Mumbai, but failed to nab the terror accused.
Sources tell NDTV that the Maharashtra Police has claimed ignorance about Naqqi Sheikh cooperating with the investigators when pulled up by the Union Home Ministry on Monday. The Ministry of Home Affairs is likely to call for a meeting of state police organisations to ensure better coordination and also ensure that Central intelligences and state police organisations are on the same page when dealing with terror.