NEW DELHI (TIP): The August 1, 2012 Pune serial blasts carried out by the Indian Mujahideen are linked to the recent arrest of 16 terrorists, including a DRDO scientist , in Karnataka who plotted to kill some politicians, Hindu leaders and journalists. Sayed Maqbool, who was recently held for allegedly training the Pune attackers in making bombs, made the revelation.

Maqbool, who had hatched a plot along with five IM members for a ‘fidayeen attack’ on the Bodh Gaya temple to “avenge atrocities on Muslims in Myanmar” , is a close associate of Abdul Rauf and Nashrudin, who were arrested for the murder of Gujarat home minister Haren Pandya in 2003. Sources said that Maqbool was contacted by IM members to help them in making bombs. Sleuths of the special cell say that Maqbool was not present in Hyderabad on the day of the Pune blasts but had given training to Shakir and Ahmad who had handled the explosives. Maqbool was also in touch with 16 terrorists, including Muthi-ur-Rahman Siddiqui, a reporter with English daily. The group reportedly was in touch with Lashkar and Harkat-ul-jihad-al-Islami . “The 16 plotters arrested in Karnataka had been in contact with Saifullah Gauri in Saudi Arabia. They came in touch with Maqbool, who asked them to seek IM help. However,Siddiqui and his friends refused to take help of any outsider group as they wanted to establish their own identity. Maqbool then advised them on how to go about the operation,” said a top source.

Hyderabad, Mumbai on IM hit list

Three places in Hyderabad and a few in Mumbai were on the IM’s hit list. Maqbool had helped four IM operatives, arrested earlier this month, conduct a reconnaissance of Dilkhush Nagar, Begum Bazar and Abids in Hyderabad, DCP (special cell) Sanjeev Yadav said. Maqbool, the special cell says, became a terrorist after coming in contact with Azam Ghauri, who taught him to make IEDs.