File photo of Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal
Separate teams of National Investigation Agency (NIA) visited Goa yesterday along with Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal to probe his links in the state, police sources said.
The teams, which were in the state for a day, took Bhatkal to places like Anjuna beach, Mapusa, Panaji and Vasco, which he had reportedly visited in the past ten years.
"The NIA teams were here but did not share their intelligence inputs with the state police," Goa police Deputy Inspector General OP Mishra said last night.
However, sources in the police department said the NIA teams were trying to ascertain whether Bhatkal had been recruiting gullible youths from Goa into his terror network.
Goa was on alert last year following inputs that it may be on the hit list of terrorists. The state attracts 25 lakh tourists annually.
30-year-old Bhatkal, arrested along Indo-Nepal border on August 29, is alleged to be involved in a series of blasts from 2006 onwards across the country.
Bhatkal, who was on the run since 2008, is wanted in several terror attack cases in Ahmedabad, Surat, Bangalore, Pune, Delhi and Hyderabad.
Bhatkal, who co-founded Indian Mujahideen (IM) in 2008 along with brother Riaz, is also wanted in the German Bakery bomb blast case in Pune. The blast, that took place on February 13, 2010, left 17 people dead.
The IM was designated a terrorist group by the government under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act in June that year.