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EXCLUSIVE! July 2011 Mumbai bombers identified
Months after the triple bombings rocked Mumbai on July 13 this year, most counter-terrorism experts were willing to shove the 13/7 investigations under the rug as 'yet another case with a dead end.' However, rediff.com's Toral Varia finds out that the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad has successfully managed to join the dots by decoding the CCTV footage.
Here are the EXCLUSIVE details.
Weeks after scanning through hundreds of hours of close circuit television footage, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad has finally achieved considerable success in mapping out the sequence of events leading up to the ghastly 13/7 triple blasts.
In a precisely drawn out and supervised exercise, the ATS has identified the Zaveri Bazaar bomber. Investigators have also got a clear picture on what the bomber looks like. However, investigations have hit a roadblock, as the bomber is a fresh face in the crime and terrorism files of the ATS.
The ATS team scanning the CCTV footage have zeroed down on about 10-12 grabs that help them connect the route taken by the suspected bombers -- both at Zaveri Bazaar and Opera House -- as well as spot them clearly while placing the IEDs.
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EXCLUSIVE! July 2011 Mumbai bombers identified
With the help of CCTV footage, two sketches of suspected bombers have also been prepared.
Rediff.com has learnt that one of them is depicted as having slightly long hair and wearing spectacles. Sources in the investigating agencies say that the suspected bombers could possibly be affiliated with the Indian Mujahideen.
"Which is why even though we have not circulated the sketches or pictures, we have shown them to our very trusted informers who have previously helped us with information regarding Indian Mujahideen," informed a source.
The clinching footage for both the locations has been recorded between 17.50 hours to 18.15 hours in various CCTV camera's across the establishments of Zaveri Bazaar and Opera House.
The first blast occurred at Zaveri Bazaar at 18.15 hours followed by the blast at Opera House at 18.17 hours and at Dadar at 18.18 hours.
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EXCLUSIVE! July 2011 Mumbai bombers identified
CCTV footage of various locations, particularly from the Zaveri Bazaar, spots the long-haired bomber riding a stolen red colour Honda Activa scooter numbered as MH 01 AH 718 entering the crowded lane, taking two left turns, then placing the scooter at the spot and walking off.
He then walks into the opposite direction and is spotted in a CCTV camera of a nearby hotel.
Subsequent investigations revealed that the stolen vehicle belonged to one Arjun Chowdhary who was in Pune on the day of the blast. The owner even tried to register a complaint with the local police station, but was told to get the documents.
Investigators have given him a clean chit. However, the vehicle has not been handed over him.
Meanwhile, the Opera House footage reveals that the bomber places the bag inside a ditch then walks over to a roadside food vendor on the opposite side and appears to be ordering something to eat. His side profile has been captured in one of the CCTV cameras at the Opera House.
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EXCLUSIVE! July 2011 Mumbai bombers identified
The ATS has successfully linked the movements of bombers from one lane to another by collating the footage from various cameras and placing them in a corresponding timeline.
The footage and corresponding information, which is currently only with the ATS, has not yet been shared with another other intelligence agencies.
Sources have also said that the entire information was, however, shared with Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on his last impromptu visit to Mumbai a couple of days after the blast at the Patiala House court in New Delhi.
As of now the information, accessed by rediff.com, has been shared only amongst key units of ATS.
While there is now clarity in the reconstruction of the crime and face of the criminal, the ATS is now struggling for more information on the bombers.
Interrogation with various informers as well as arrested Indian Mujahideen suspects has yielded little or no information.
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