2 Indian Mujahideen wanted in Haren Pandya case detained in Saudi Arabia

Riyadh, Oct 9: A key operative of the Indian Mujahideen accused of supplying explosives has been detained in Saudi Arabia.

The operative identified as Zainul Abideen a resident of Bhatkal had fled India in 2013 following the Dilsukhnagar (Hyderabad) blasts.

Indian agencies who got information about Abideen tipped off their counterparts in Saudi which led to his arrest.

India is now working closely with the Saudi authorities to secure the extradition of Abideen and also another operative Mufti Sufiyan.

Haren Pandya murder case

Apart from probing their role in the 13/7 Mumbai blasts and also the Dilsukhnagar attacks, the probe agencies also suspect that the two operatives could have been involved in the murder of former Gujarat Home Minister Haren Pandya.

The Haren Pandya murder that took place in 2003 has still not been solved.

Indian agencies feel if both Abideen and Sufiyan are extradited it will bring a closure to the murder case. Further the explosives trail relating to the operations of the Indian Mujahideen too would be solved, the Indian agencies feel.

The name of Abideen had cropped up during the questioning of Syed Afaq another resident of Bhatkal who was arrested by the Bengaluru police in January 2015.

He is said to have told the police that Abideen had fled India for Saudi Arabia and was working in a tech company.

Mufti Sufiyan

India is also working closely with Riyadh on another operative by name Sufiyan who is a wanted in the Pandya murder case.

He is said to have fled to Karachi and has been on the wanted list for a host of offences ranging from radicalisation to supply of explosives.

Sufiyan is said to be close to the top Lashkar-e-Tayiba ranks.

He coordinated operations between the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the Indian Mujahideen, investigations would show.

OneIndia News