Patna, Feb. 23: A four-member National Investigation Agency (NIA) team today launched a manhunt for a suspected Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative in Samastipur district for his alleged involvement in the Hyderabad blasts.
The NIA sleuths, led by Rajesh Kumar, an officer in the rank of additional superintendent of police, reached Patna in the morning and left for Samastipur in search of Tehsin, alias Hasan, alias Monu. Sources said Tehsin, aged around 20, is a resident of Maniharpur village in Samastipur and is absconding in cases of terror attacks allegedly carried out by the banned outfit in New Delhi, Bangalore and other parts of the country.
The sleuths, the sources said, detained one person for interrogation in Samastipur, around 110km northeast of Patna. According to intelligence sources, Tehsin is wanted by the special cell of Delhi police and the NIA.
“We are on the job and are trying to ascertain his whereabouts. As Tehsin is an IM operative and is still on the run, his involvement in the Hyderabad blasts cannot be ruled out,” an NIA officer said.
Principal home secretary Amir Subhani said the state police would co-operate with the central investigation agency but refused to share information about the operation against the terror suspects.
The state police, however, feigned ignorance about the involvement of any suspect from Bihar in the blasts that rocked Hyderabad on Thursday. “We have not been contacted by any investigating agency till date as far as the search of suspects in the Dilsukhnagar blast is concerned,” additional director-general of police (headquarters) Ravinder Kumar said.
Chief minister Nitish Kumar said: “We do not maintain independent and separate stand on the issues like terror strikes. We cooperate with the Centre in connection with such cases.”
The NIA teams had earlier visited Samastipur twice to arrest Tehsin. The members of the team contacted Tehsin’s relatives to gather information about him but to no avail, an officer said under the cover of anonymity. Samastipur superintendent of police Varun Kumar Sinha confirmed that an arrest warrant was earlier issued by a Delhi court against Tehsin. The sources said Tehsin’s name figured in the chargesheet submitted in the court of metropolitan magistrate (Tees Hazari court) by Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, the then additional deputy commissioner of police, special cell of the Delhi police, on May 19, 2012, in connection with explosions in the national capital. An arrest warrant was also issued against Tehsin, who was stated to be a close associate of Danish.
A resident of Chakjohra locality in Darbhanga. Danish was arrested from his ancestral house in the Laheriasarai area by the NIA in January this year. The names of Tehsin and Danish were revealed by two alleged IM operatives — Quateel Ahmad Siddique, 26, alias Sajan alias Siraj alias Vivek Mishra and Gayur Ahmed Jamali, 21. They are residents of Darbhanga and Madhubani districts, respectively. Quateel and Jamali were arrested by the NIA in November 2011.
The NIA has so far arrested 11 alleged IM operatives in Madhubani, Darbhanga and Nalanda districts. Prominent among them are Mohammed Adil, Mohammed Tariq Anjum Hasan alias Shaan, Mohammed Kafeel and Asadullah Rehman. They were allegedly involved Chinnaswamy Stadium blast and the explosion at German Bakery in Pune in 2010.
An agency report, in the meantime, said a threat of Hyderabad-like blasts to avenge the hanging of Afzal Guru was posted on the website of Bihar Tourism department after it was attacked by hackers this morning. Tourism minister Sunil Kumar said the website, www.bihartourism.gov.in, remained hacked till 2:30pm.
