With most wanted IM man Yasin Bhatkal in NIA custody and admitting his role in bomb blasts across the country, Bihar Police will be relieved. Darbhanga and Madhubani, known for ?paan, paag and makhan (betel, cap and butter)? had been fast becoming infamous for growing terror links.
How Yasin Bhatkal became a terrorist
With Bhatkal spending a good time in Darbhanga, in two stints between 2007 and 2010, central intelligence agencies and Bihar Police hinted at his involvement in developing a Bihar module in control of Bhatkal himself. Sources said his contact details had several Bihar numbers.
Related: Yasin Bhatkal’s footprints all over
He reportedly told interrogators he recruited Muslim youths from Bihar but ?regretted these youths lacked passion of jehadis?
The man who lived at several places under assumed identities, had made inroads into Bihar after coming in contact with Basopatti (Madhubani) resident Omar Madani, a LeT operative, in 2006. Yasin continued to meet Madani at his Nepal address. Madani had shifted base to Mahua in Nepal before his arrest in August 2009 from Delhi.
During his Darbhanga stay, Bhatkal made important contacts, first as a business networking agent and then as a Unani practitioner.
He had also come to know Rabbani (now dead) of Darbhanga, who helped him build a network of youths in villages.
Bhatkal, who first came to Darbhanga in 2007 and stayed at Laeherisarai as a business networking agent, had been able to influence Muslim youths of the area. While he offered education formula for talented ones, he promised employment to poor ones. ?While he trapped a youth like engineer Fasih Mehmood, he also took Ghayur Ahmed Jamali, son of a poor man, in his fold,? said an officer about Bhatkal?s modus operandi.
Related: Indian Mujahideen founder Yasin Bhatkal, another operative arrested by NIA
Bhatkal, a good preacher, influenced several youths and trained them to preach. The likes of Jamali became preachers. Jamali was so famous his speech was recorded by youths on mobile phones.
?It was only after the arrest of IM operative Ghayur Ahmad Jamali from Madhubani, the real story of IM module in Bihar started coming out,? said a police officer. There have been 16 arrests from Bihar in connection with terror attacks across the country. Ten were from Madhubani and Darbhanga in the last seven years.
Madhubani and Darbhanga, with proximity to the porous Indo-Nepal border, probably turned out to be a safe haven for terrorists from Pakistan. Delhi Police Special Cell arrested Pakistan national and IM operative Mohammed Ajmal from Madhubani along with Sakri (Madhubani) resident Abdul Ghayur Jamali in connection with the Jama Masjid blast.
Four arrests from Barh Samaila village of Darbhanga between November 2011 and May 2012 proved the well-entrenched Bihar module of IM Gauhar Aziz Khomaini and Qateel Ahmed Siddiqui (who was later killed in jail) arrested in November 2011. In May 2012, Kafeel Akhtar was arrested by Karnataka police from Barh Samaila.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had objected to Karnataka Police taking him away without a transit remand from a local court.
The same month, Fasih Mehmood, a Saudi Arabia-based engineer from Barh Samaila village, was arrested. He was deported to India.
Terror links with Darbhanga was first established with D Company man Fazlur Rahman?s connection with Deora Bandhauli.
connecting the dots
* 2005
LeT terrorist Haroon Rashid arrested from Siwan
* July 20, 2006
Mumbai ATS arrests Mohammed Kamal Ansari from Basopatti village, Madhubani, for Mumbai serial blasts
* Nov 12, 2007
Mohammed Sabauddin alias Farhan, a Madhubani resident, arrested from Lucknow for Rampur CRPF camp attack and firing at a Jaipur science conference
* Oct 14, 2008
UP ATS arrests Mohamed Khalil, a Madhubani resident, from Lucknow for the Delhi blast
* Aug 17, 2009
LeT operative Omar Madani of Basopatti, a Madhubani
resident, arrested from Delhi
* 2010
Rampur CRPF camp attack accused Mohammed Sabauddin arrested from Gandhwari, Madhubani
* Nov 24, 2011
IM operatives Ghayur Ahmed Jamali and Mohammed Ajmal arrested from Madhubani
* Nov 2011
IM operative Irshad Khan, a Samastipur resident, held by Special Cell in Chennai
* Nov 22-23, 2011
Gauhar Aziz Khomaini, Qateel Ahmed Siddiqui arrested
* Jan 12, 2012
IM operatives Naquee and Nadeem arrested from Darbhanga (official arrest shown later)
* May 6, 2012
Kafeel Akhtar arrested by Karnataka Police from Darbhanga
