NIA teams visit Goa with Bhatkal to ascertain terror links

Goa was on alert during the last year end following inputs that the state may be on the hit list of terrorists

The teams of National Investigation Agency visited Goa along with IM co-founder Yasin Bhatkal to probe his links in the coastal state where he had earlier visited, police sources said.

The teams, which were in the state for a day yesterday, took Bhatkal to places like Anjuna beach, Mapusa, Panaji and Vasco, which he had reportedly visited during the last decade.

The NIA teams were here but did not share their intelligence inputs with the state police, Goa police Deputy Inspector General O P Mishra said last night.

However, sources in the police department said the NIA teams were trying to ascertain whether Bhatkal had been recruiting gullible youths from Goa into his terror network.

Goa was on alert during the last year end following inputs that the state, which attracts 25 lakh tourists annually, may be on the hit list of terrorists.

30-year-old Yasin, arrested along Indo-Nepal border on August 29, is alleged to be involved in a series of blasts from 2006 onwards across the country.

Bhatkal, who was on run since 2008, is wanted in cases of terror attacks in Ahmedabad, Surat, Bangalore, Pune, Delhi and Hyderabad.

Bhatkal, who co-founded Indian Mujahideen (IM) in 2008 along with brother Riaz, is also wanted in the German Bakery bomb blast in Pune on February 13, 2010, that left 17 people dead.

The IM was designated a terrorist group by the government under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act in June 2010.