New Delhi:
More than a week after six alleged members of the Indian Mujahideen (IM) were arrested, there are concerns about a revival of the terror group, which seemed to be fading away after its senior leaders were arrested, killed or forced to exit the country in 2007-08.
Last month, the government announced that six men found in cities like Delhi and Chennai and in North Bihar's Motihari district had been arrested for planning and executing terror attacks in Delhi, Mumbai and Pune in 2010. The alleged mastermind, however, a man named Yasin Bhatkal, who also calls himself Shah Rukh and Imran, had managed to escape. A CCTV grab of Mr Bhatkal allegedly moments before planting the bomb that would explode at Pune's German Bakery in February 2010, killing 17 people and injuring another 50, has been accessed by NDTV from Intelligence sources recently.
(See: Yasin Bhatkal's photo here)Intelligence sources tell NDTV that Mr Bhatkal is responsible for helping the Indian Mujahidden to regroup. It's members are responsible for all terror attacks in the last two years, except for the explosion at the Delhi High Court in September this year, in which 14 people died.
Mr Bhatkal has been choosing men without criminal and police records who are not on the police's radar. Terror attacks are "outsourced" to them, said intelligence sources.
Till Mr Bhatkal is arrested, they say, the Indian Mujahideen will remain a mysterious and potent threat to the country.