A team of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad has visited Rajkot to collect information about hardcore criminals as part of their investigation into the July 13 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai, police sources said on Friday.
The team, which arrived on Thursday, met Crime Branch officials and sought information on underworld dons Aftab Ansari, Asif Raza Khan Pathan and Fazal Ur Rehman alias Fazlu, who were named over a decade ago in the kidnapping of a local jeweller's son.
Asif was killed in a police encounter in late 1990s while his brother Amir is said to be one of the founding members of the Indian Mujahiddin, which is suspected to be involved in the serial blasts in July that claimed over two dozen lives, sources said.
Ansari was found guilty in the 2002 terror attack on the American Centre in Kolkata and sentenced to death.
"The ATS team is here to collect information about sone criminals and find out if they were in any way linked to the Mumbai blasts," a Crime Branch official said.
Maharashtra ATS had late in July said terrorists responsible for the terror attack on India's financial capital could have strong links with Gujarat and Kolkata.
Maharashtra and Gujarat ATS teams had shared information as part of their investigations into the bombings.
