Darbhanga blast: NIA arrests two LeT operatives from Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: Six days after registering a case in connection with the parcel bomb blast at Darbhanga railway station, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday arrested two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants from Hyderabad and carried out searches at their rented house.
NIA sleuths arrested prime accused Imran Malik and his elder brother Md Nasir Malik, both hailing from Kairana town in Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh after sustained interrogation for the past few days.
On Wednesday evening, the NIA team took the brothers to their rented house in Mallepally and reportedly seized incriminating material from their premises even as the local police threw a tight security ring.
According to sources, Nasir Malik, who runs a garment business, has been operating from Hyderabad for over two decades now.
Mohd Nasir Khan had got training in making IEDs in Pak
Irfan joined his brother this year. They rented a house on the first floor of a building in Mallepally area near Bharat grounds.
“Preliminary investigation and examination of the accused has revealed a trans-national conspiracy hatched by top operatives of LeT to execute terror acts across India and cause largescale damage to life and property,” the NIA media communique said.
Acting under the directions of Pakistan-based handlers of LeT, Md Nasir Malik and Imran Malik prepared an incendiary IED and packed it in a parcel of clothes. The parcel was dispatched in an express train from Secunderabad railway station to Darbhanga.
“This was aimed at triggering an explosion and fire on a running passenger train to cause huge loss of lives and property,” a senior NIA official said.
Mohd Nasir Khan had visited Pakistan in 2012 and received training from LeT in making IEDs with locally available chemicals. Nasir and Imran were in contact with Pakistan-based LeT handlers through encrypted communication platforms, the NIA official said.
For the past few months, Iqbal was training Imran online to prepare explosives by using nitric acid, sulphuric acid and sugar.
“The trend of preparing explosives by procuring easily available chemicals in the market is a serious concern. We are trying to cull out more information about the terror cells,” said an intelligence official.
On June 15, Imran Malik prepared an IED using a 50ml medicine bottle and concealed it in a parcel of women’s ready-made garments. “The accused had set an approximate time of 16 hours to trigger the blast. Since the explosive liquid leaked from the bottle into the wrapped newspapers and clothes, the intensity of the explosion got minimized,” said a police source.
The parcel was booked from Secunderabad railway station using a forged PAN card in the name of Md Sufiyaan on June 15 and the blast occurred on platform number 1 of Darbhanga railway station on June 17 when the parcel was unloaded. Luckily there were no casualties.
Two other suspects Haji Saleem and Khafeel were already taken into custody by the Uttar Pradesh ATS last week and handed over to the NIA.
The NIA team from Delhi will be shifting the accused to Patna and produce them before the NIA court.