A day after terror outfit Indian Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the Varanasi blast, Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjeev Dayal on Wednesday said handlers of the outlawed organisation are in Pakistan and are running the 'game' from there.
"The analysis of the e-mail and the signature on it indicates similarities with previous emails sent by IM. Preliminary probe indicates the role of IM in this (sending e-mail). Now, the Mumbai and Navi Mumbai police are probing to establish which IM module had hacked into the unsecured WiFi and sent the mail from Navi Mumbai. But definitely, main players (of IM) are sitting in Pakistan and running the game from there," the city police chief said.
Asked who the main players were, the commissioner replied, "Definitely Bhatkal brothers."
According to the police, Riyaz Bhatkal and his brother Iqbal Bhatkal are founder members of the IM.
Dayal said several IM members were arrested in 2008 by the Mumbai Crime Branch and some leaders of the organisation are wanted in several cases.
"It is to be investigated if those wanted are involved in sending the e-mail or a new module is behind it. Before the IM was cracked in 2008, its members may have surveyed several areas looking for unsecured WiFis," the police chief said.
In 2008, the city police had arrested 21 alleged members of IM for hatching a conspiracy to set off blasts in various cities including Delhi, Bangalore and Surat.
The commissioner said the terror e-mail was sent from a house in Navi Mumbai and the person to whom the WiFi belonged to is innocent.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Director General of Police D Sivanandan held a meeting with Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner Ahmad Javed, Mumbai CP Dayal and crime branch officials about Varanasi blast investigation.
