Gujarat ATS Nabs 4 Suspects in Connection With 1993 Mumbai Blasts Case

The Gujarat ATS said that the accused had links with Dawood Ibrahim and received weapons training in Pakistan.

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The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) said on Tuesday, 17 May, that it had arrested four persons who were allegedly involved in the 1993 Mumbai blast case.

The accused persons, namely Abu Bakar, Saiyyad Qureshi, Yusuf Bhatka, and Shoib Qureshi are all residents of Mumbai, The Indian Express quoted an ATS official as saying.

The official added that the four were nabbed from Ahmedabad on 12 May.

"We are investigating the exact role of the four accused in the bomb blasts and their purpose of coming to Ahmedabad,” said Additional Director General of Gujarat ATS Amit Vishwakarma.

The police said that the four accused persons had been initially detained and charged for carrying fabricated Indian passports. They were then sent to police remand for eight days.

'Accused Charged for Mumbai Blasts After Real Identity Was Revealed'

On Tuesday, the police revealed that the accused were wanted in the Bombay blasts, which had taken place on 12 March 1993, killing 257 people and leaving more than 700 injured.

"Initially we found that all four accused had Indian passports made on forged names. Abu Bakar was using the identity of Javed Basha from Karnataka, Saiyyad Qureshi was using the false name of Saiyyad Sharif from Chennai in Tamil Nadu, Shoib Qureshi was using the name of Saiyyad Yasin from Karnataka and Yusuf Bhatka posed as Yusuf Ismail from Mumbai," Vishwakarma said.

He added that they were nabbed after their real identity was revealed, and they were found to be allegedly involved in the 1993 blasts.

The ATS official further added that the four persons had allegedly travelled to Pakistan to receive training prior to the blasts, and had left India after the incident occurred.

Links With Dawood Ibrahim, Received Training in Pakistan

"The four accused initially worked in the gang of Mumbai-based smuggler Mohammad Dossa from 1980 to 1990. They also got in touch with globally designated terrorist Dawood Ibrahim and in February 1993, they first travelled to the Middle East and met Ibrahim," Vishwakarma said, as per The Indian Express.

He added that after receiving a directive from Ibrahim, the four travelled to Pakistan to be trained by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) with regard to firing weapons and using improvised explosives.

After the blasts took place, Vishwakarma said the accused persons fabricated documents to make Indian passports under false names and travelled to different West Asian countries, like Saudi Arabia and Oman and settled there. "They recently returned to India and had come to Ahmedabad."

The official further said that one of the accused, Bakar, was also responsible for the disposal of a consignment of weapons that reached Maharashtra via the sea.

(With inputs from The Indian Express.)