An aerial view of the Gandhi Maidan Hunkar Rally on October 27

A separate FIR was lodged on Thursday with the Gandhi Maidan police station against some Indian Mujahideen (IM) operatives, including the alleged mastermind of the October 27 blasts, Tahseen Akhtar, alias Monu.

Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manu Maharaj said a generic FIR has been lodged against some suspected IM operatives on the basis of intelligence inputs hinting at their activities in and around the state capital.

The SSP, however, refused to share more information on the plea that it would hamper the investigation. On being pestered, Maharaj said: “It is true that some suspected IM operatives are on our radar. Information about their activities is being gathered.”

The name of Tahseen’s associate, Hyder Ali, hailing from Aurangabad district, also figured in the FIR. “Both Tahseen and Hyder, wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the Patna and the Bodhgaya blasts, are absconding,” an officer associated with the investigation said.

Sources said the new complaint would allow the police to probe the IM links in the city and take measures to contain their activities. The complaint has been lodged on the statement of Gandhi Maidan police station house officer Rajbindu Prasad.

The FIR lodged earlier in connection with the blasts at Gandhi Maidan had already been taken over by the NIA, which was handed over the probe into the incident early this month on the recommend of the state government.

Sources said till date, no complaint against any terror activist was pending in any police station of the state, which saw blasts in Patna and Bodhgaya this year. NIA is probing both cases.

Yasin Bhatkal, the IM’s co-founder arrested in August this year from Raxaul in East Champaran district on India-Nepal border, could not be taken on remand for interrogation, as no case was pending against him. “The fresh FIR would enable the police to take Bhatkal on remand for interrogation,” a police officer said.

The officer, wishing anonymity, said the fresh FIR was a move of the state police to take Bhatkal on remand to probe into the IM’s Darbhanga module. At least 16 persons from Darbhanga, Madhubani and Samastipur have been arrested for their involvement in terror activities across the country in the past two years, he added.

Sushil finger at CM

BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi accused the chief minister of seeing things related to terrorism from the religious angle. He said the government had not shared its views with the Centre in response to a proposal which seeks opinion from states whether the ban against the SIMI should be extended or not.