NIA combs Bihar districts for suspected terrorist

Patna, April 21 (IANS) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has searched four districts of Bihar for Tahseen Akhtar, allegedly a member of the Indian Mujahideen (IM) involved in terrorist strikes in the country, police said Sunday.

"NIA teams have conducted raids in Samastipur, Darbhanga, Munger and Madhubani districts in the last 24 hours in search of Tahseen Akhtar alias Monu, accused of several terrorist attacks," an officer at the Bihar Police headquarters here said.

Tahseen Akhtar, considered to be close to Yasin Bhatkal, the man who founded Indian Mujahideen, hails from a village in Samastipur, about 100 km from here.

"An NIA team that conducted raids at his house interrogated his father to gather information about him," the police official said.

Earlier, the NIA had issued an arrest warrant against Tahseen Akhtar.

Two months ago, an NIA team raided Samastipur looking for him, but he was not found in his house.

The NIA has announced a reward of Rs.10 lakh for information that could lead to Tahsim's arrest.

The NIA team had arrested Mohammad Danish Ansari, an alleged operative of Indian Mujahideen, from Chakjora village in Darbhanga in January 2013.

Ansari is allegedly also a close associate of Yasin Bhatkal.

Security agencies claim Ansari provided shelter to Yasin Bhatkal in 2009-10 in Bihar.