Bihar Police lodges FIR against Indian Mujahideen

An FIR was lodged against the Indian Mujahideen organisation and its suspected operatives Thursday by the Bihar Police in connection with the serial bomb blasts in the state's capital, police said.

At a time when the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing into serial blasts in Patna Oct 27, a first information report (FIR) was registered at the Gandhi Maidan police station.

Many of the Indian Mujahideen's (IM) top operatives, including Tehseen Akhtar alias Monu and Haider, have been booked, a district police official said.

According to police officials, the FIR will also give them a chance to seek custody of IM operatives, including jailed Yasin Bhatkal, who was arrested from Raxaul near Motihari in East Champaran district on Indo-Nepal border a few months back.

"This FIR is a move to inquire into the much-hyped Darbhanga and Madhubani module of IM and to interrogate Bhatkal," another police official said.

Last Sunday, the NIA released sketches and details of five people wanted for their involvement in the Oct 27 serial bomb blasts in Patna and the July 7 Bodh Gaya blasts in Bihar, and sought the help of the general public in nabbing them.

The NIA in a press release on its official website, said that the five absconding suspects -- Tahseen Akhtar alias Monu, Haider Ali alias Abdullah, Numan Ansari, Taufeeq Ansari and Mojibullah -- were wanted.

At least seven people, including a suspected bomber, were killed and nearly 100 injured in the blasts ahead of the Oct 27 rally by the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime minister candidate Narendra Modi.