MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has put the Bombay police in the dock over its crime branch claims of solving the July 2005 serial blasts in suburban trains in Mumbai.
The ATS said that in absence of official communication from the crime branch, it was essential to know if the five alleged Indian Mujahedeen (IM) terrorists arrested a week ago really posed as Pakistani nationals in the attack.
In a press conference last week, Bombay police chief Hassan Gafoor said that the investigation into the five alleged IM terrorists in Mumbai traced the missing links in the July blasts investigation.
The Mumbai police still have not sent any official communication to the ATS on this issue, and as a result the ATS cannot take further custody of the accused and interrogate them.
The Bombay police claim to have dismantled a key IM terrorist cell that was responsible for several blasts since 2005 in various parts of the country. It was also claimed that four of the five accused were absconding Pakistani nationals that were mentioned in the charge sheet in the July 2005 attack.
Rakesh Maria, the crime branch chief, has claimed that the absconding Pakistani nationals were the key culprits in the train blasts, and the arrested terrorists were the actual conspirators.
Maria had said that the arrested IM terrorist suspects did not reveal their true identity during the operation, and had told their associates that they were Pakistani nationals. When the associates were interrogated, they told the police that the accused were Pakistanis.
The ATS does not find the details given about the accused genuine and finds that that there were gaping holes in the information provided.
The fact that the crime branch had not communicated officially with the ATS and has yet to give details of the involvement of the suspects shows that the Bombay police have not been able to corroborate the claims they have made, said an ATS official.
