Bananas provided cover in planting bombs

NEW DELHI: “Stop using bicycles for planting bombs as they have frame numbers and the purchaser can be identified by the seller. Use dustbins available in parks and markets of Delhi,” Indian Mujahideen founder Amir Reza Khan had instructed Ariz Khan and Atif Ameen during a chat on Yahoo Messenger.
The chargesheet filed by the Special Cell also mentions that Amir Reza directed the men to carry bananas with them.They could avoid suspicion if they kept the polythene covered IEDs in dustbins on the pretext of throwing the peels in. This was exactly how the IM members carried out the serial blasts in Delhi in 2008.
Ariz Khan has not disclosed what transpired during the Delhi bombings, but also the core structure of Indian Mujahideen and the role of other members, many of whom have escaped the country. Apart from Khan, police have charged 28 others, including Aamir Raza Khan, Dr Shahnawaj, Iqbal Bhatkal and Mirza Shadab Baig, who are now based in Pakistan.
The chargesheet says IM had four groups for terrorist activities in India: the Sahabuddin brigade for strikes in south India, Ghaznavi brigade for north, Shaheed-Al-Zarkavi brigade for strikes on VVIPs and the Media Group to send mails to news organisations.
The Azamgarh module had four sub groups. Atif Ameen, killed at Batla House, had radicalised most members with help from Pakistan national Abu Al-Qama. Ameen too had received extensive weapons training in Pakistan.
The first group, the Jyoti Niketan School group, had Asadulaah Akhtar Haddi, Mirza Shadab Baig, Zeeshan Ahmed and Hakim Bagga as members. The Sanjarpur group comprised Said, Chhota Sajid, Bada Sajid and Khalid. The two groups were linked to Cheetah Camp Trombay, the Mumbai module, whose members included Sadiq and Arif Sheikh. The Delhi group had members like Saquib, Shakeel, Zia-Ur-Rehman and Shehzad Pappu.
The chargesheet says that Ariz Khan and Atif Ameen regularly talked with Amir Raza over Yahoo Messenger, planning future strikes and discussing logistics. The IM head sent money to Ameen, routing it from Pakistan via the Gulf countries. He was also in contact with Riyaz Bhatkal alias Annu over Yahoo Messenger.
“After the successful 23/11/2007 serial blasts of Faizabad, Varanasi & Lucknow Courts in Uttar Pradesh, 13.05.2008 serial blasts of Jaipur (Rajasthan) and 26.07.2008 serial blasts of Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Mohd Atif Ameen told him he and Amir Raza Khan had finalised Delhi as next target for blasts on 13/09/2008 as it would give more exposure to their outfit all over the world,” the chargesheet states.