HYDERABAD, India, 30 September 2007 — Police have arrested Mohammed Abdul Majid, brother of the alleged mastermind of Hyderabad bomb blasts and Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami activist Shahid alias Bilal. Bilal’s friend, Mohammed Shakeel, has also been arrested on charges of criminal conspiracy and waging war against the state.
Majid and Shakeel were produced before a magistrate on Friday evening and remanded to judicial custody for 14 days. The police charged them with indulging in subversive activities.
Police said 19-year-old Majid was among the 15 suspects behind the smuggling of 10 kilograms of highly explosive RDX into the country. He ran a cyber café near his house in Moosarambagh area and interacted constantly with Bilal through chatting on the Internet and by phone. Police claim he had information about Bilal’s activities and he helped Harkat in manufacturing the Aug. 25 bombs that exploded at Lumbini Park amphitheater and Gokul Chat eatery killing 43 people and injuring 51. Bilal’s friend Shakeel alias Moulana, 25, is a resident of Malakpet area. He works as a driver and helped Harkat in recruiting cadres. He is also involved in three other cases.
Police say Majid had prior knowledge of the Makkah Masjid blast on May 18 in which nine people were killed and 58 others injured. But to create an alibi, Majid got himself hospitalized a day before the blast. He deliberately picked up a fight with some thugs in the Old City and managed to get admission into a hospital because of wounds he received in the fight.
Majid confessed to police on Bilal’s role in terror activities in the city. He has not confessed about his own involvement in the blasts.
