Two of the arrested suspects

New Delhi, Sept. 22: Delhi police teams fanned out to four states today to probe the alleged terror trail left by the 13 young men accused of bombing Jaipur, Ahmedabad and the national capital.

One team, led by police special cell and Intelligence Bureau officials, had reached Karnataka and begun searching hotels and lodges in Manipal, 400km west of Bangalore, sources in Delhi said.

The team was accompanied by Mohammed Saif and Zeeshan Ahmad, who were arrested within hours of Friday’s Batla House shootout.

Three other teams left for Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Mumbai. The team to Jaipur took along Abu Basheer, who was arrested by Gujarat police after the Ahmedabad blasts and recently brought to Delhi.

The police suspect the explosives for the Delhi blasts were brought from Karnataka. Joint commissioner (special cell) Karnal Singh said Atif, the alleged mastermind who was killed in Friday’s gunfight, had sent Saif and Sajid to Karnataka to get explosives. They allegedly came back with ball bearings and other bomb-making material.

“Atif had given them a number and asked them to meet a person there. The person gave them these explosives and they immediately returned to Delhi,” Singh said.

Singh had, however, told reporters yesterday that Atif had procured the explosives himself and wouldn’t trust anyone with any task till the time came to plant the bombs.

Police sources said most of the raids in Karnataka would be made in Manipal and Udupi, from where the next consignment of bombs, meant for blasts in Delhi’s Nehru Place, was to be brought. Some members of the team have reached Dharwad district, where terror camps had been busted in the past.

In Delhi, officers questioned the three youths arrested yesterday: Zia-ur Rahman, 22, Mohammed Shakeel, 23, and Saqib Nissar (not Shakir Nissar as reported earlier).

With five arrested and two dead, a hunt is on for the six other suspects, who the police believe are still in Delhi. The massive combing has led to the detention of 35 Bangladeshis, caught without legal documents.

Jaipur claims

Rajasthan police today did one better than Delhi police, purporting to name the militants who carried out the May 13 Jaipur blasts and detailing their to-and-fro trips by date, train name and make of bus.

The men involved were 11 of the 13 behind the Delhi blasts, deputy inspector-general Punnachammy said in Jaipur, reports PTI. He mentioned nine names, even distinguishing the two Sajids as Chhota Sajid (killed in the Delhi shootout) and Bada Sajid (in hiding).

On May 11, they apparently boarded a Rajasthan Roadways Volvo bus from Bikaner House in Delhi at 8am and reached Jaipur’s main bus stand at Sindhi Camp at 1pm. Simi leaders Tauqeer, Qayamuddin and Sajjid had already arrived on May 9.

The version goes like this: The 11 bombers formed three teams and bought bicycles from Kishanpole Bazar with the Rs 4,500 each had been given. After planting the bicycle bombs at the selected spots, they all returned to Delhi on the Shatabdi Express.