Mumbai: Akbar Ismail Chaudhary was a trusted lieutenant of Indian Mujahideen (IM) mastermind Riyaz Bhatkal and was assigned important tasks related to the recent blasts in the country, joint commissioner of police (Crime), Rakesh Maria, has claimed.

According to the Mumbai crime branch, Akbar, a computer expert, was IMs all-rounder and was instrumental in driving the media wing members of the outfit to Navi Mumbai and Mumbai for Wi-Fi hacking. He also played roles in hatching a plan to kidnap a prominent builder and a jeweller in Pune, arrange rental accommodations in Surat and Hyderabad, and planting bombs, police said. Akbar was arrested earlier this month by the crime branch.

An officer of the crime branch also termed Akbar as a "master of disguise". Fifteen days prior to the blasts in Hyderabad on August 25, 2007, Akbar got in touch with a retired CPWD officer, residing in a posh locality of Hapriguda area of Hyderabad and told him that he wanted his flat on rental basis.

He told the officer that he was a student and was pursuing a six-month computer course. The officer then allowed him to stay there. Akbar, Bhatkal and Anique Shafiq-ul-Sayed of the IM stayed in this flat and plotted the Hyderabad blasts conspiracy," said the officer.

The officer added that they took delivery of explosives and kept the same in the rented flat two days prior to the blasts. Akbar planted a bomb at Dilkhush Nagar, Bhatkal at Gokul Chat Bhandar and Anique at Lumbini Park. While the bomb planted by Akbar did not explode, the other two bombs claimed several lives, police said.

A month prior to the Surat blasts in July this year, Akbar had visited the diamond city, where he got in touch with one Yakub Bhai to get rental accommodation.

"Akbar told Yakub that he wanted to set up a garment business in Surat," the officer said.

"But Yakub had a stipulation that he wanted to rent his flat only to a family. Akbar told him that once the business is established, he will soon call his family and managed to get the rented flat," he said.

Akbar, Asif, Anique, Mohammad Sadiq and Qayamuddin Kapadia had stayed at the flat and hatched the Surat blast conspiracy, police said.
Source : DNA