No 1 to No 10 on our hit-list is Narendra Modi, he allegedly told investigators

Patna: After he was arrested, Yasin Bhatkal, the alleged co-founder of the Indian Mujahideen, reportedly told Bihar police officers who the terror group's main target is. "Narendra Modi is first on the list...second is Narendra Modi...all the way upto No 10, it is only Modi," he said, according to senior policemen who interrogated him.

Bhatkal was arrested in August from Bihar near the border with Nepal. The operation to find one of India's most-wanted men was a collaboration between the state police and the National Investigating Agency or NIA. Bhatkal is being now being questioned by various state police units like Bihar, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Other alleged operatives of the Mujahideen have revealed through the years that the group sees its mission as retribution for the 2002 communal riots of Gujarat, in which hundreds of Muslims were killed during Mr Modi's first term as the chief minister. He is now in the midst of his fourth.

Investigators are relying on some of the information Bhatkal allegedly disclosed to help unmask the matrix of terrorists who planned and executed last month's bomb blasts in Patna. Six people were killed and nearly 80 injured in and around the venue of a massive rally for Mr Modi, the BJP's choice for prime minister. (Patna blasts: investigators want to interrogate former police officer)

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Mr Modi was not hurt. Like other senior BJP leaders, he reached the public park after the last of eight bombs exploded. (Gujarat Police blames counterparts in Bihar for being indifferent to Narendra Modi's security)

The National Investigating Agency, which is handling the case along with the Bihar Police, believes that the Mujahideen -and specifically a new cell incubated in neighbouring Jharkhand- is behind the terror attack, though the group has not claimed responsibility. (Patna blasts planned on instant messaging site: investigators)

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Sources say that Bhatkal and other alleged Mujahideen men arrested after the Patna blasts have revealed that though Mr Modi remains the main target on their hit-list, there were no plans for a suicide bomber to strike during his visit to Patna. (After Patna, Indian Mujahideen had big terror strikes planned, claim investigators)