A team of Delhi Police flew down twice to Ahmedabad during August to interrogate at least 12 persons arrested by the Crime Branch in connection with the Ahmedabad blasts. What they got was a jumble of names, aliases of persons still at large, who were part of a larger plan to target other cities, and vague information about a module consisting of persons from Uttar Pradesh that was waiting for the right time to probably target Delhi.

One thing became very clear at that time: Delhi may not immediately be the next target but it was considered priority. One, even with depleted resources and cadre, they could still target Delhi because they had the “capacity” to strike there. Two, the bomb-maker they knew as Tauqeer — his real name is Abdus Subhan Qureshi — was still at large and could assemble bombs as and when they wanted. Third, Delhi would provide them maximum publicity.

When Delhi Police asked what the Indian Mujahideen meant in its email after the Ahmedabad blasts that “the crusade would continue”, the accused apparently told interrogators that a plan was in place to target other cities which included Delhi. “For Delhi, they knew of at least two youths recruited from Uttar Pradesh for making the arrangements. But the names they gave didn’t mean anything and we knew they were using aliases, so it was difficult to identify them,” an officer associated with the investigation told The Indian Express.

A team of investigators of Hyderabad Police too returned from Ahmedabad with the same information. The names and faces “did not fit” and it was difficult to piece together the entire network.

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