Batla House encounter: Hunt still on for 12 Indian Mujahideen men

NEW DELHI: Nearly five years since the Batla House encounter, the hunt for 12 alleged Indian Mujahideen members who escaped that day continues.
Investigators say all 12 were part of the module headed by Atif Ameen (alleged mastermind) that stayed in Batla House, but two of them, Dr Shahnawaz and Mohammad Sajid (Bada), were most important and had slipped away minutes before the special cell team reached there.
Shahnawaz and Sajid allegedly regrouped with IM's India chief Ahmad Zarar Siddibappa alias Yasin Bhatkal and are trained in making bombs. Intelligence Bureau reports had suggested that Shahnawaz may have fled to Pakistan via Nepal but ever since IM carried out blasts in Pune, Delhi and Bangalore, it is believed that he is still in India.
An officer said Shahnawaz and Sajid worked with Atif Ameen on all the blasts in 2008, including those in in Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Surat and Delhi. The special cell had killed Ameen and Mohammad Sajid (Chhota) and arrested Mohammad Saif, Zeeshan Ahmed, Saqib Nisar, Mohammad Shakeel and Zia-ur-Rehman after the encounter. However, the chargesheet named only one accused, Shehzad.
Shahnawaz, Sajid and the others who were arrested are said to be part of the first trained IM module and all of them came from Azamgarh (UP). However, the encounter changed the profile of the outfit, drawing youths from other states. Since then, modules from Bihar and south India have also been found.