Pune:
The family of Abdul Samad Bhatkal, arrested in connection with the Pune German bakery blast, maybe vehemently denying his involvement, the ATS sources have told NDTV that four SIM cards have been recovered from him.
The sources said that one SIM card was kept at his residence so the cell phone would show his location as Mangalore.
The ATS suspects this was done to avoid suspicion about his location. The SIM card was kept in Mangalore even when he went to Dubai, the sources added.
The investigators suspect Bhatkal used two other SIM cards to communicate with co-conspirators.
Bhatkal's family, meanwhile, claim he's being framed - that he was at a wedding in Karnataka on the day of the blast. The wedding video, Samad's supposed alibi, shows him attending it.
"My son is innocent. He cannot do anything like that. At that time he was at home," said Rehana Zarrar, his mother.
"At that time he was here, it was the occasion of my daughter's wedding," said Mohammad Ibrahim Siddibapa, Samad's relative.
Yet this video is no clinching alibi. It is undated. In fact, the wedding card shows the ceremonies took place much earlier on February 5th and 6th.
The ATS initially arrested him for a lesser offence under the Arms Act to have time to interrogate him, but with the union home minister going ahead and declaring Samad a prime suspect in the Pune blast, investigators are now under pressure to produce evidence.