Related: Arrested terrorist Yasin Bhatkal reveals Indian Mujahideen's modus operandi
Starting from the time he returned from Dubai and began living in a farmhouse in Kuppa near Udupi in 2007, Yasin has shared with interrogators startling new details about how the IM planned and executed bomb attacks and also confirmed many suspicions of security agencies.
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A believer in the Ahl-e-Hadith or pristine teachings of Islam, Yasin has told interrogators that he also believed that Muslim armies would invade the Indian subcontinent one day and would be victorious and establish Islamic law in the region.
Here is what he has told investigators about key attacks blamed on the IM:
HYDERABAD BLASTS
August 25, 2007
When Yasin was living in Kuppa, IM co-founder Riyaz Bhatkal visited him in August 2007 and asked him to prepare three IEDs to carry out blasts in Hyderabad. Yasin accordingly made three boat-shaped IEDs (claymore-unidirectonial bombs) ' "each IED weighed about half a kg and was packed with ball bearings to cause maximum damage."
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According to Yasin's revelations, Riyaz arranged for the gelatine explosive and also fixed timers at a later stage. All three bombs were placed in a single carry-bag and Riyaz arranged for the bag to be transported to Hyderabad from Mangalore in a private bus. The bag was delivered at a shop on the highway from where Aniq and Akbar Ismail Choudhary, brother of absconding suspect Mohsin Choudhary, received it.
"Riyaz and Aniq planted IEDs at Gokul Chat Bhandar and Lumbini Amusement Park resulting in blasts. However, the third IED planted by Akbar at Hussain Sagar ferry point did not explode," Yasin has said.
Aniq and Akbar were arrested by Mumbai police during a crackdown on the IM in 2008.
JAIPUR BLASTS
MAY 13, 2008
In February 2008, Riyaz called Yasin and asked him to make 10 bombs for Jaipur. "Eight days before the blasts, I carried all the IEDs from my farmhouse to Udupi in a bag and handed it over to Atif Amin. Jaipur was targeted in retaliation for the bomb blast at the Ajmer Dargah in 2007, blamed on Hindu extremists. Nine of the 10 bombs planted in Jaipur exploded. "The Jaipur blasts were praised by Riyaz Bhatkal," Yasin has said.
AHMEDABAD BLASTS
JULY 26, 2008
Yasin recalls that a meeting was organised in Pune towards the end of 2007 where he met a group of dedicated youths, most of whom were arrested after the Batla House encounter in Delhi. "The main focus of the meeting was Gujarat as we planned to carry out some major action in the state," Yasin has said.
While others were assigned tasks such as collecting mobile SIM cards, drafting and sending emails to claim credit, bus/train ticketing and preparing the logo of the IM, Yasin was tasked with making the bombs.
"I had to prepare IEDs with a wooden structure. I started searching for a wood which was not locally available. So I went to Shimoga to purchase imported wood. I purchased silver wood to conceal the source of wood," Yasin has said.
"I was desperate for planting the bombs in Gujarat. I was inspired by a Hollywood movie... in which these boat structures were used. To make it more lethal, I bought aluminium sheets and nails from a hardware shop in Udupi," he added.
On July 1, 2008, Riyaz asked Yasin to come to Pune with 100 pieces of the wooden structures. Yasin took a bus from Udupi and was received in Pune by Mohsin Choudhary and Akbar and taken to an apartment.
The group drafted an email that would claim credit for the Gujarat attacks. Ahead of the blasts, 40 SIM cards and four Nokia 1200 mobile handsets were bought with a plan to destroy them after the blasts. From Pune, Yasin and Ahmed Bawa travelled to Ahmedabad with "explosives packed in a biscuit carton and wooden structures in a rag kept in the dickey" of the car.
Bada Sajid and Mohammed Saif assisted Yasin in making the bombs. And 32 of them were planted around Ahmedabad under the supervision of Atif Amin, Yasin has said.
SURAT failed BOMBS
July 2008
On July 10, 2008, Yasin left for Bharuch where he met Fazlu Rehman and made 30 IEDs without timers and explosives around July 14. He has said Rehman got two WagonR cars to execute the attack. A delay in the supply of explosives led to the date of the attack being postponed. The group surveyed Surat and had initially decided to plant bombs near Garment Market. "But later, we changed this plan and decided not to plant the IEDs in the cloth/garment market as the crowd was mostly ladies and children," Yasin has said. "So we decided to plant IEDs at Varachha market, as I understood the traders of Varachha market had contributed lakhs of rupees for Gujarat riots."
The group panted 10 bombs on roadside hoardings and trees facing the market and set them to explode 48 hours later. The next day, another 20 bombs were planted around the market and were set to go off 24 hours later, which meant all 30 bombs were to explode at the same time.
While Yasin has said that he left for Pune after these bombs were planted, Rehman and Riyaz planted two car bombs at two hospitals to go off an hour after the 30 bombs as that is when the injured would be brought for treatment. But on reaching Pune, Yasin learnt that none of the bombs had exploded. "I got depressed and quietly went to bed," he has said.
DELHI SERIAL BLASTS
September 13, 2008
Yasin has said that he was in his Kuppa farmhouse when Riyaz started planning the Delhi serial blasts. "In August 2008, Riyaz asked me to provide 10 more IEDs as materials were already available in the Kuppa farmhouse. I prepared 10 IEDs and delivered them to Saif and Mohammed Khalid," he has said, referring to IM operatives from the Azamgarh module. The bombs were delivered near Udupi railway station 10 days before the blasts in the capital. "These serial bomb blasts were done by the Azamgarh group under the supervision of Riyaz Bhatkal," Yasin has said.
BANGALORE BLAST
April 17, 2010
The IPL T20 tournament had started in March 2010 and Riyaz initially instructed Yasin to carry out a blast at the stadium in Delhi. Yasin asked Qateel Siddiqui to go to the stadium during a match but since the ticket was "very costly", the idea was dropped.
On the instructions of Riyaz, Yasin says, he left Delhi and went to Tumkur near Bangalore as the Chinnaswamy Stadium was chosen as a target. "I went to Nashik and from there to Pune and finally reached Bangalore. I preferred to travel without a ticket as my plans were generally not fixed. I used to bribe the ticket examiner during journeys and manage seats," Yasin has said.
He secured a hideout in Tumkur and with the explosives supplied by Riyaz, made the bombs there on April 14, 2010, and wrapped them in newspapers and plastic, he has said.
"Initially, we wanted to prepare cooker bombs but did not find a suitable place for it," Yasin has said. The group made seven bombs and carried them in rucksacks and handbags. They reached the stadium at 3 am on April 16, 2010, and planted five bombs at the main entrance and ticket counters. They could not find suitable places to place the other two and threw them into a pond on their way back to Tumkur.
PAHARGANJ SHOOTING
July 2010
In July 2010, the IM decided to attack foreign tourists in Paharganj in the capital. The attackers, Pakistani national Mohammed Azmal and the IM's Qateel Siddiqui, opened fire at the German Bakery in the area. Qateel had procured a machine gun and ammunition from Munger in Bihar. Yasin has said that he arranged for a room for the two near a mosque in the Shastri Park area of Delhi and also stole a motorcycle for the job.
JAMA MASJID ATTACK
September 19, 2010
The IM decided to mark the anniversary of the Batla House encounter by targeting the Jama Masjid area. The target was picked, Yasin has said, to send a strong message as some Russian women tourists were seen bathing inside the compound of the mosque during the rainy season in "objectionable dress".
"I along with Qaiser...watched this and we were in tears. So I decided to teach a lesson to the tourists," Yasin has said. The group decided to target gate number three of Jama Masjid as it was the one through which tourists could enter the complex.
Yasin bought ammonium nitrate from Anand Parbat to be used as explosive and also stole a Maruti car from the Jama Masjid area to place the bomb. He also tried to steal another car but failed as its anti-theft alarm went off. He provided four guns to IM operatives Waqas and Tabrez and made a 10 kg pressure-cooker bomb on the night of September 18.
Yasin has said he drove the car himself and parked it near a police post near gate number three.
VARANASI BLAST
December 7, 2010
Varanasi was targeted to mark the anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Masjid and the ruling of the high court in the Ayodhya land dispute case. For the first time, the IM used hydrogen peroxide to make a bomb and 200 litres of it was brought from Kolkata. Yasin says he visited Varanasi to survey the city and the attack was postponed by a day due to heavy security on the anniversary of the demolition on December 6. The group wanted to plant the bomb at Sheetala Ghat but had to settle for Dashaswamedh Ghat due to high security.
MUMBAI TRIPLE BLASTS
July 13, 2011
The group began planning the blasts in the first week of July 2011 and Riyaz sent Tabrez and Waqas to Mangalore to procure explosives. "We carried out a recce of Zaveri Bazar, Gateway of India, Opera House, Siddhivinayak Mandir, Linking Bridge and Colaba," Yasin has said.
"Waqas prepared the timer using digital watches. These timers were tested repeatedly to ensure their accuracy. This was done only because of the failure in the Varanasi blast."
The group was initially unsure if it should go ahead with the attack on July 13 due to heavy rains on that day, Yasin has said. The group left Mumbai after planting the explosives.
HYDERABAD AGAIN
February 21, 2013
Yasin has said that the twin blasts in the Dilsukhnagar area were planned by Riyaz with the help of Asadullah, Waqas and Tahseen. He has also said that he knew about the plans and gave his inputs. After sketches of Asadullah, Waqas and Tahseen were published following the blasts, Riyaz asked Yasin to get Asadullah to Nepal.