Two car thieves who are alleged to have stolen four vehicles from Navi Mumbai,are now suspected of being members of an Indian Mujahideen (IM) module that was behind the serial blasts in Gujarat. The police claim the cars three Wagon Rs and a Maruti 800 were used in the blasts on July 26,2008. Mohammed Mobin Abdul Shakoor Khan alias Irfan (32) and his cousin Ayub Raja Amin Shaikh (28) belong to Khazrana village in Indore and were arrested on July 6 from Mankhurd suburb of Mumbai by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad. A 7.65 mm pistol and a .32 revolver with four rounds were allegedly found on Irfan. Their role is now being probed in the blasts in Ahmedabad in 2008 and the unexploded bombs in Surat the same year and also for the e-mails that were sent by the IM after the blasts. The arrests,which come after eight months of intensive investigation,is considered significant as it indicates the source of the cars before they reached the target locations. The orders for the cars were allegedly placed by IM founder Riyaz Bhatkal through Afzal Mutalib Usmani,one of the key conspirators of the IM module,in April 2008. Irfan was first introduced to Usmani,one of the key conspirators of IM,inside Arthur Jail in 2005. Both were serving judicial custody with Irfan for a car theft and Usmani,a MCOCA accused and Fazloo Rehman gang member,in a firing case. After having struggled in Mumbais film industry,Irfan began his career as a bag lifter in Kurla railway station, said ATS chief Rakesh Maria. With his first such offence registered in 1996,he allegedly shifted to motor vehicle thefts with at least 20 cases against him in various police stations in Andheri,Juhu,Sakinaka and Dharavi. His younger cousin Ayub has two cases of motor vehicle theft in the city.
