Delhi cops to question Bhatkal

The Delhi Police will seek the custody of arrested Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal in connection with three cases, including the 2008 serial blasts in the city.

"His involvement has surfaced in the 2008 serial bombings, firing on a stationary bus in Jama Masjid and running of an arms factory in Nangloi," a Delhi Police officer told IANS.

Bhatkal, who was arrested Wednesday night near the border with Nepal, is a key suspect in the 2008 serial bombings in central Delhi's Connaught Place, Gaffar Market and south Delhi's Greater Kailash, which claimed 26 lives and injured 133 people.

Police said he was a planner and executor of the 2008 Delhi serial bombings.

Till 2008, Delhi Police's special cell, who have busted the Indian Mujahideen's (IM) various modules, knew him as Shah Rukh who lived in Delhi for one year. In Delhi, before the executions he motivated several youths for terror activities, investigators said.

Non-bailable warrants were issued against him in one case, police said.

Bhatkal was also wanted in the case related to running an arms factory by Indian Mujahideen in west Delhi's Nangloi. He was allegedly manufacturing pistols and other arms and ammunition, police said.

Police raided the factory in November 2011 and arrested around 16 members of IM from various parts of the country.

Bhatkal is also wanted in the firing on a stationary bus near Jama Masjid in central Delhi Sep 19, 2010, injuring two foreign tourists.