High drama prevailed over reports of the escape and subsequent arrest of a suspect in the serial bomb blasts that rocked Patna on Sunday.
Bihar Police first said Mehar Alam, who was detained by NIA for questioning from Muzaffarpur area a couple of days ago, escaped on Wednesday night from the washroom of a guesthouse where he was putting up.
But NIA officials reportedly contested the police version and said Alam had been cooperating with investigators but did not turn up for questioning on Wednesday as directed.
And when a joint team of NIA and Bihar Police raided the guesthouse where the suspect was putting up, they found he had escaped leaving behind his mobile phone. A diary entry about his detention has been made at the local police station.
But TV reports, not confirmed by police or railway officials, suggested Alam had been arrested from a train at Kanpur on late Thursday evening.
Earlier, investigators said questioning of three suspects arrested in Patna and four more detained in New Delhi, Kolkata, Patna and Ranchi in connection with the blasts had provided important leads that established a connection between the blasts and Pakistan-based leader of Indian Mujahideen (IM) Riyaz Bhaktal.
A series of low-intensity blasts, one at Patna station and others in and around Gandhi Maidan, had killed six people and injured 80 others. The blasts occurred before and during BJP's election rally on Sunday.
Security agencies have now intensified search for Bhatkal's key aides in India, Mohammad Tehseen Akhtar alias Monu and Haider Ali, both wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in several terror strikes, including the ones at Bodh Gaya in Bihar and Hyderabad.
"The duo is constantly in touch with IM modules through Yahoo chats. The ISI is supposed to have funded Riyaz Bhatkal and the money reached Monu and Haider through hawala route," said an official on the condition of anonymity.
"Imtiaz and Neyaz also admitted they had been initiated into terrorism by Muhammad Manzar Imam, who was nabbed by NIA in Kerala and later shifted to Delhi in a case involving another IM operative Muhammad Danish Ansari," he added.
The recovery of a few analog watches from the home of one of the arrested suspects, Imtiaz Ansari, and the use of ammonium nitrate in blasts, indicates the group behind Patna blasts might also have carried out Bodh Gaya blasts.
"One of the arrested suspects has admitted to as much, but a lot more is tumbling out," said investigators.
Imtiaz, a suspected IM operative who was arrested from the premises of Patna Junction soon after the blasts, and Arshad Alam who was held at Alauli village in East Champaran district have provided vital clues, the official said.
Ainul Ansari, who was seriously wounded after the first blast went into coma at Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences. On the basis of Imtiaz's statement, NIA also picked up Uzair Ahmad from Ranchi on Wednesday and his kin Mohammad Aftab from Delhi in connection with blasts.
Two more suspects, Monam from Patna and Mohammad Ali from Kolkata have also been detained, with officials planning to detain more for questioning.
"It is getting increasingly clear the IM has roped in educated tech-savvy into terrorist activities and made Ranchi the hub they operated from," the official said.
Bihar Police first said Mehar Alam, who was detained by NIA for questioning from Muzaffarpur area a couple of days ago, escaped on Wednesday night from the washroom of a guesthouse where he was putting up.
But NIA officials reportedly contested the police version and said Alam had been cooperating with investigators but did not turn up for questioning on Wednesday as directed.
And when a joint team of NIA and Bihar Police raided the guesthouse where the suspect was putting up, they found he had escaped leaving behind his mobile phone. A diary entry about his detention has been made at the local police station.
But TV reports, not confirmed by police or railway officials, suggested Alam had been arrested from a train at Kanpur on late Thursday evening.
Earlier, investigators said questioning of three suspects arrested in Patna and four more detained in New Delhi, Kolkata, Patna and Ranchi in connection with the blasts had provided important leads that established a connection between the blasts and Pakistan-based leader of Indian Mujahideen (IM) Riyaz Bhaktal.
A series of low-intensity blasts, one at Patna station and others in and around Gandhi Maidan, had killed six people and injured 80 others. The blasts occurred before and during BJP's election rally on Sunday.
Security agencies have now intensified search for Bhatkal's key aides in India, Mohammad Tehseen Akhtar alias Monu and Haider Ali, both wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in several terror strikes, including the ones at Bodh Gaya in Bihar and Hyderabad.
"The duo is constantly in touch with IM modules through Yahoo chats. The ISI is supposed to have funded Riyaz Bhatkal and the money reached Monu and Haider through hawala route," said an official on the condition of anonymity.
"Imtiaz and Neyaz also admitted they had been initiated into terrorism by Muhammad Manzar Imam, who was nabbed by NIA in Kerala and later shifted to Delhi in a case involving another IM operative Muhammad Danish Ansari," he added.
The recovery of a few analog watches from the home of one of the arrested suspects, Imtiaz Ansari, and the use of ammonium nitrate in blasts, indicates the group behind Patna blasts might also have carried out Bodh Gaya blasts.
"One of the arrested suspects has admitted to as much, but a lot more is tumbling out," said investigators.
Imtiaz, a suspected IM operative who was arrested from the premises of Patna Junction soon after the blasts, and Arshad Alam who was held at Alauli village in East Champaran district have provided vital clues, the official said.
Ainul Ansari, who was seriously wounded after the first blast went into coma at Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences. On the basis of Imtiaz's statement, NIA also picked up Uzair Ahmad from Ranchi on Wednesday and his kin Mohammad Aftab from Delhi in connection with blasts.
Two more suspects, Monam from Patna and Mohammad Ali from Kolkata have also been detained, with officials planning to detain more for questioning.
"It is getting increasingly clear the IM has roped in educated tech-savvy into terrorist activities and made Ranchi the hub they operated from," the official said.
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