Court sends India’s most-wanted militant to police custody

NEW DELHI: One of India’s most-wanted men, alleged militant Yasin Bhatkal, appeared in a New Delhi court on Friday, following his arrest over a string of attacks that have killed hundreds.
Bhatkal, one of the alleged co-founders of militant group the Indian Mujahideen, was remanded in police custody for 12 days, allowing investigators time to question him over a series of bomb blasts in recent years.
Wearing a black hood over his head and surrounded by armed police, Bhatkal, said to be in his 30s, did not say anything to waiting media as he was escorted in handcuffs into Patiala House court.
His alleged associate, Asadullah Akhtar, who was arrested along with Bhatkal on the porous India-Nepal border on Wednesday night, also appeared in court.
The pair were earlier Friday flown on a special plane from eastern Bihar state, following their arrest over attacks including in the Indian cities of Mumbai, Bangalore, New Delhi and Pune.
Bhatkal, who eluded police for years, apparently gave himself away after sending money home during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, as well as speaking to his wife in tapped phone calls earlier this month, NDTV said.
India’s federal police, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), told the Delhi court they needed time to interrogate Bhatkal, and his accomplice, including taking him back to previous crime scenes in several Indian cities, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.



“These accused persons are required for custodial interrogation in the case to unearth the larger conspiracy to effect the recoveries and getting leads for (the) arrest of other absconding co-accused persons,” the NIA said in its application to the court for remand.
Bhatkal has been named as a co-conspirator over a bomb attack on the German Bakery restaurant in the western city of Pune in 2010 which killed 17 people including five foreigners.
His arrest is another success for the Indian security forces following the detention earlier this month of alleged top militant Abdul Karim Tunda.
A top police officer in Bihar state said Bhatkal and Akhtar were arrested following a covert operation that included putting them under surveillance for the last several months as they moved back and forth across the border.
“Bhatkal and Akhtar were arrested following a tip-off from central intelligence agencies,” Ravinder Kumar told AFP.
Bhatkal, from the southern state of Karnataka, was arrested in 2008 in the city of Kolkata but was able to flee after being granted bail by officers who were unaware of his identity, the Times of India reported.
The most recent deadly attack believed to have been mounted by the Indian Mujahideen came in February when twin bombs strapped to bicycles exploded in the city of Hyderabad, killing 16 people and wounding more than 100.
It was also linked to bomb attacks on July 7 at Bodh Gaya, one of Buddhism’s holiest places and a UNESCO World Heritage site. The blasts were suspected to have been staged in retaliation for violence against Muslims in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.