The Pakistani link to the recent terror strikes in Hyderabad, Ajmer and Ludhiana came to the fore on Monday as India sought Pakistan’s help in tracking down suspects who are believed to have cross-border links.

India is learnt to have referred to Harkat-ul-Jihadi-Islami (HuJI) and its commander Shahid Bilal, who is alleged to have masterminded nearly all the recent terror strikes in the country.

“The recent terror strikes figured in the second meeting of the Joint Anti-Terrorism Mechanism between India and Pakistan held here on Monday,” a senior official said. The meeting also came days after the Ludhiana blast and amid Indian concern over attempts in Pakistan to build up a radical Sikh environment.

Investigators feel the Mecca Masjid attack and the Ajmer blast were carried out by the same group — HuJI Bangladesh — due to similarities in the modus operandi. Both used a mobile phone trigger and unexploded devices were found after both strikes.

According to security agencies, Bilal fled India after the attack on the STF headquarters in Hyderabad in 2005 and took refuge in Karachi. Bilal, who was drafted into militancy by Rasool Khan Party, developed a terror network in and around Hyderabad, initially using modules of Lashkar-e-Toiba and subsequently drawing in HuJI cadre who came in from Bangladesh.

India also asked Pakistan about action taken on information it had shared on the Samjhauta Express attack, the Malegaon strike and the Mumbai blasts at the first meeting in Islamabad in March. No arrests have been made yet in the Hyderabad blasts (Mecca Masjid and the twin blasts), the Ajmer strike or the Ludhiana blast.

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