RDX trail

The ATS hasn’t been able to provide conclusive evidence on how RDX was brought into Mumbai. According to the chargesheet, the RDX used in the blasts was procured from across the border and brought to the city by alleged Pakistani national and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operative Ehsanullah. In May last year, Ehsanullah was escorted to the city by Kolkata-based operative Mohammed Majid. He was brought from the Bangladesh border along with three other Pakistanis. But Ehsanullah remains a mystery. All the police know is that for sometime he lived in Mumbai with Asif Khan Bashir Khan, alias Junaid in Thane.

Pak connection

The ATS claims the blasts were sponsored and supported by perpetrators from Pakistan. But according to the chargesheet, at least two of the alleged Pakistani bombers are unidentified. While the ATS claims to have identified those involved in the blasts at Matunga, Bandra, Jogeshwari, Borivli and Mira Road, it has failed to identify the Pakistani or the local bomber accompanying them in Mahim and Bandra.

First-timers

The ATS chargesheet claims a reconnaissance of trains was carried out two months before the blasts by six accused. However, according to the list of planters submitted to the court, only two were among those six accused. The rest were first-time bombers including Bihar-based Kamal Ansari and the nine Pakistani nationals who accompanied Faisal Sheikh. While Faisal Sheikh was first detained on July 22 last year and questioned by the Mumbai police crime branch, his involvement in the blasts came to the fore only after he was handed over to the ATS and arrested five days after his detention.

... contd.