Hyd: NIA wants case transferred to it, home ministry willing

New Delhi, Feb 26: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday informed the home ministry about the clues it found during investigating into the serial blasts in Hyderabad on February 21 and requested the latter to transfer the case to it.

Sources in the home ministry said the case could be transferred through a notification in the next few days. Cooperation of the Hyderabad Police would be sought in the investigation. NIA personnel reached the spot soon after the blasts took place but was probing the matter along with local police officers. The Hyderabad Police set up 15 special investigation teams for the case under an additional commissioner.

The home ministry feels that the NIA will be the best agency to probe the Hyderabad blasts, given the inter-state ramifications of the case and that the body is already investigating into terror activities of the Indian Mujahideen (IM). The NIA also has a unit in Hyderabad which will help it in coordinating the probe locally.

Although the Hyderabad Police has been speaking about vital clues in the probe, no major breakthrough has been made yet as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and IM terrorists quizzed in jails in Delhi and Bangalore have not revealed any big leads and also the CCTV footage of bicycle-borne suspects remained inconclusive.

According to one sources, the NIA's report submitted to the home ministry said that the IM and LeT are the prime suspects in the Hyderabad blasts which seem to have links to Pune blasts of August 2012.

The agency has been asked to coordinate the search by various police and probing personnel for IM mastermind in India Yasin Bhatkal and three of his key associates Asadullah Akhtar, Tahseen Shaikh and Waqas. The Maharashtra Police had announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh on the head of the four men, for their alleged involvement in the Pune and Mumbai blasts (September 2011).

OneIndia News