The police are on the look out for a relative of Abdus Subhan Qureshi alias Tauqeer. Identified as Ilyaas Khan, this man is also a close aide of Students Islamic Movement of India (Simi) general secretary Safdar Nagori as is his brother-in-law Tauqeer.

According to a senior police officer, who did not wish to be named, Khan is a native of Burhanpur and is married to Tauqeers sister. He is well-educated and was working with the railways.

"Khan came on the police radar during the investigations of the Mumbai serial train blasts in 2006. He was staying in a rented house, provided by Tauqeers family at Naya Nagar in Mira Road. By the time we could lay our hands on Tauqeer and Khan, they had gone underground," said the officer.

He also said that the names of Tauqeer and Khan cropped up during the interrogations of Ehteshaam Siddiqui and Faisal Shaikh, both suspected to be the mastermind behind the train blasts.

Siddiqui, Shaikh, Khan and Tauqeer were arrested in Surat in 2002-03 by the Gujarat police for allegedly attending a Simi meeting. Around 200 Simi activists were held by the police during that meeting, police said.

"Once again, close links of Simi has been established with the Indian Mujahideen, since members of both these outfits are interlinked. Khan was a very active member of Simi and was close to Nagori," said the officer.

Additional commissioner of police, ATS, Param Bir Singh said, "Khan is wanted in one of the cases by the ATS."
Source : DNA