Villains behind July 26 blasts identified, held

CLUE HUNT: A policeman collects samples from a blast site in Ahmedabad on July 26.

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New Delhi/ Ahmedabad: The conspiracy behind the July 26 serial bombings in Ahmedabad has been "nearly cracked" and 10 people, including the mastermind, have been arrested, said the police on Saturday.

Gujarat Director General Police P C Pandey announced the banned Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) carried out the blasts and one its leaders, Mufti Abu Bashir, was arrested in Lucknow on Saturday morning for allegedly leading the conspiracy.

Yunus Mansuri, Samsuddin Sheikh, R S Kadri, Yasuddin Sheikh, Usman Agarbatiwala, Imran, Iqbal Sheikh, Sajid Mansuri and Zahid Sheikh are the other nine people arrested.

Bashir was arrested by a joint team of UP and Gujarat police from Lucknow's Moulviganj area and he is being brought to Gujarat for interrogation. "He will be formally arrested and interrogated and the fully story will then be out," said Pande.

Bashir, who hails from Binapara village in Azamgarh, was allegedly “the brains” behind the blasts. Interestingly, Bashir had stayed in Hyderabad for two years before the August 2007 blasts in the city.

Bashr, with his oratory, "used to inspire terror activities. In April, he had held a big meeting. He had also visited Ahmedabad. By interrogating him more clues about other blasts that occurred in the country earlier could come out. We have uncovered sleeper cells successfully," said Pandey.

All the accused have been changed with murder, waging war against the state and other offences.

Pandey refused to give details about other arrested persons, but said that the investigation into the blasts spread over a number of states, including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, New Delhi and Karnataka. "In no previous blasts, has the case been completely solved. These arrests may give leads to other blasts including those in Jaipur, Hyderabad and Uttar Pradesh."

He claimed the Ahmedabad crime branch and the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Gujarat Police, along with local intelligence units, had "nearly solved" the serial bombings in Ahmedabad as well as about 11-12 others including those in Jaipur, Bangalore, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

"With a sense of pride I can say that, our efforts in the past 20 days have paid off, and we have almost completely solved the blasts case," he said.

Indian Mujaheedin is SIMI

The Indian Mujaheedin, a group that sent e-mail to media organisations claiming responsibility for the Ahmedabad blasts, was just “another form” of SIMI.

Pande claimed SIMI had split into two groups of moderates and hardliners. The hardliners had dropped the 'S' from SIMI and now called it the Indian Mujahideen.

Pandey said intelligence units in several Gujarat towns had uncovered the network of "SIMI sleeper cells". "We have uncovered this network and it will help in solving the cases of other offensives across the country," he said.