Feel proud for carrying 13/7 blast: Bhatkal tells police

 

Mumbai, Jul 4, 2014, PTI: Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal, arrested in connection with the 2011 Mumbai triple blast case, told the Mumbai police that he feels "proud of himself" for carrying out the blasts.

 

"Whatever I have done, I feel proud of myself," Bhatkal said in his confessional statement, recorded by the Mumbai police, a copy of which is with PTI.

 

The Maharashtra control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), under which Bhatkal is charged with, authorises the DCP-level officer to record the confessional statement of the accused.

 

When Deputy Commissioner of Police Kishore Jadhav, asked Bhatkal, as to why he wants to give confessional statement, he said, "I don’t regret for the blast that I have carried out and therefore, I want to give confessional statement."

 

Bhatkal also told the police that he does not consider the blasts carried out by him as a crime.

 

Bhatkal’s aide Asadullah Akthar, also told the police, in the confessional statement, that he too does not regret the blast carried out by him.

 

In the confessional statement, both the accused stated the details of the blasts carried out by them in various places in the country, since 2005 to avenge the 2002 Godhra riots.

 

The Anti Terrorism Squad of the Maharashtra Police on June 16 had filed a 300-page supplementary chargesheet against Indian Mujahideen (IM) co-founder Yasin Bhatkal and his aide Asadullah Akthar in connection with the 2011 triple blast case.

 

The duo was arrested on February 5 this year by the Maharashtra ATS after a Delhi court allowed its plea seeking their custody.

 

According to ATS, Bhatkal was the key conspirator of the three powerful blasts which ripped through crowded areas in Mumbai’s - Zaveri Bazar, Opera House and Kabutar Khana, on July 13, 2011, killing at least 21 people and injuring 141.

 

Bhatkal played an important role in procuring explosives and making Improvised Explosive Device (IED), police said.

 

Earlier, five accused - Naquee Ahmed, Nadeem Shaikh, Kanwar Pathrija, Haroon Naik and Mohammed Qafeel Ansari were held in the case and are facing trial under the stringent MCOCA, Indian Penal Code and other laws.

 

Those wanted in the case are Riyaz Bhatkal, who is also a top operative of the alleged home-grown terror outfit, Waqas Ibrahim Sad, Dubai-based Muzaffar Kolah and Tehseen Akhtar Shaikh, the police said.

 

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had arrested Yasin Bhatkal (30), who is wanted in over 40 terror cases and carries a reward of Rs 35 lakh on his head, as well as Akhtar, from the Indo-Nepal border on the night of August 28, 2013.

 

Bhatkal, who hails from Bhatkal village of Udupi district in North Karnataka, is wanted in a string of terror attacks in Ahmedabad, Surat, Bangalore, Pune, Delhi and Hyderabad, according to NIA.