Shahi Rafzani

Hyderabad, Sept. 6: Hyderabad blast suspect Shahi Rafzani has a soldier boyfriend who may have passed her classified information, police sources said today.

The police also claimed to have arrested the Bangladeshi woman’s brother Rizwan Gazi, a prime suspect, in Bangalore and said they were bringing him here, according to a late-night PTI report.

“Shahi’s boyfriend, a jawan, is posted in Bangalore. His name is Ramaswamy. We are probing if he provided Shahi with information on the defence establishments in Bangalore and Chennai,” a police officer told The Telegraph.

The 27-year-old Shahi, the first person to be detained in the blasts case, is said to have told interrogators she had met the jawan during a train journey from Calcutta to Bangalore.

“That was three years ago, soon after her arrival in India from Bangladesh. Within a short time, they fell in love,” the officer said.

The “love angle” adds spice to the investigation of the August 25 blasts that killed over 40 people, but the police have earlier been wrong about Shahi. They had said she was a second-year student of Christian Medical College only to later admit she was in her BA final year at Auxilium College in Katpadi, a town near Vellore.

The officer said Shahi and the soldier had made several trips to Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. “Shahi decided to study at Katpadi to be near Ramaswamy.”

The sources also claimed to know various details about Rizwan, who is believed to resemble the blast suspect’s sketch the police had released.

“Rizwan is a black belt in karate and drove a Pulsar motorbike that carried the legend: ‘Don’t follow me, my way is dangerous’,” the officer said.

“He was a regular at several mosques and eateries in Hyderabad and was popular for his generosity. He would often treat his friends at restaurants and movies.”

The sources said Rizwan was a regular visitor to Bangalore, Chennai, Calcutta and some places in Maharashtra. “He has a house in Bangalore and shares a flat with a fellow Bangladeshi in Chennai. We are investigating his sources of income,” the officer said.

Rizwan allegedly visited Dhaka last May and met Bilal, the Harkat-ul Jehadi Islami leader.

The family is from Chittagong, the sources said. “Shahi passed her intermediate exam from there. Her father Zainal Abadeen Gazi runs a chemicals and printing equipment business, Mansoor Traders.”

Shahi was taken into custody on September 1 from Rizwan’s home in Hyderabad after failing to produce her passport or visa, the police have said.

At the same time, they added that a search of the house had revealed the Bangladeshi family had illegally acquired ration cards, driving licences, cellphones and a PAN card, each with a different address.

The PAN card is said to be in Rizwan’s name. The ration card, issued in Hyderabad, reportedly has the names of Zainal, Shahi’s mother Nasheem Abadeen Gazi, Rizwan and another of Shahi’s brothers, Irfran. All are Bangladeshi citizens.