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ATS searches houses in Pune, Thane in probe linked to techie held for ‘terror’ links
ATS clarified that the probe was unrelated to Monday’s blast in Delhi that claimed 12 lives, but, as part of standard procedure, investigators were examining whether there was any possible Maharashtra link to the incident in the national capital.
PUNE: The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has searched the premises of a person in Pune and a teacher in Thane in connection with the recent arrest of a software engineer for his alleged links with Al Qaeda and other banned terror outfits, officials said on Wednesday.
ATS clarified that the probe was unrelated to Monday’s blast in Delhi that claimed 12 lives, but, as part of standard procedure, investigators were examining whether there was any possible Maharashtra link to the incident in the national capital.
According to officials, the teacher’s house in Mumbra (Thane) was used for one of the meetings by the arrested Pune-based engineer Zubair Hangargekar, 37. ATS had arrested Hangargekar from Pune on October 27 for his alleged association with Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and suspected involvement in radicalisation activities.
An ATS officer said, “The searches in Kondhwa and Mumbra are part of the ongoing investigation. At present, there is no evidence linking Hangargekar to the Delhi case.”
Investigators said Hangargekar’s old mobile phone contained a Pakistani contact number, along with two from Saudi Arabia and one each from Kuwait and Oman. However, the call detail records did not show any communication with these numbers.
During a previous search at Hangargekar’s Kondhwa residence, ATS seized mobile phones containing deleted PDF files titled “Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and All Its Manifestations”. Officers also recovered an Urdu translation of a speech by Osama bin Laden and a magazine titled “Inspire”, which included photographs of AK-47 training sessions and material describing procedures to make improvised explosive devices.
Officials said Hangargekar had earlier delivered religious discourses “aggressively” in Pune’s Kondhwa area.
The teacher whose house was searched in Mumbra is neither an accused nor a witness, an officer said. “We searched the premises of two individuals, one in Kondhwa and another in Mumbra, and questioned them,” he added.
ATS continues to coordinate with central agencies and counterparts in other states to trace any possible terror network or digital links. Hangargekar remains in ATS custody till November 14.
