Second IM bomb expert arrested

A second Indian Mujahideen (IM) bomb-making expert, who was part of the terror outfit's plan to create mayhem in India during the coming Lok Sabha polls, has been arrested, informed sources said Monday.

Sources said Tehsin Akhtar alias Monu, 22, resident of Samastipur in Bihar, has been arrested by Delhi Police.

Senior Delhi Police officials were, however, tight-lipped over the arrest.

According to the sources, Monu was involved in the 2010 bombing at Varanasi's Sheetla Ghat during the evening 'aarti', the cooker bomb blast outside Jama Masjid here the same year, the 2011 serial blasts in Mumbai's Zaveri Bazaar, Opera House and Dadar West - as well as the 2012 low intensity blasts in Pune and the twin bombings in Hyderabad in 2013.

All these terror attacks left a total of 43 dead and 253 injured.

Sources said Monu along with Waqas, who was arrested Friday from Rajasthan by Delhi Police, was planning to carry out major attacks in India during the general election.

Following the Intelligence Bureau (IB) alert, the Delhi Police's Special Cell arrested Waqas, a Pakistani national, and his associates Mohammad Mahruf, 21, Mohammad Tasleem Raza, and Shaquib Ansari, 25, from different locations in Jaipur and Jodhpur in Rajasthan Friday and Saturday.

The Delhi Police announced the arrests Sunday.

Police had also recovered explosive materials, detonators, and electronic circuits/timers from the possession of the terrorists.

Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) S.N. Srivastava told IANS that Monu was the IM operative who received Waqas at Kathmandu airport in the first week of September in 2010 and took him to Delhi for the Jama Masjid bomb attack.

Sources said Monu has been acting upon the directions of the absconding top IM operative Riyaz Bhatkal, who is involved in several cases of terror attacks in India.

"Monu stayed in India for a few months and was planning terror attacks during Lok Sabha polls after receiving lakhs of rupees in hawala money," said a source.