On May 10 last year, police seized 43 kg RDX, 16 AK-47s and 4,000 rounds in Malegaon. Two months later was 7/11 Mumbai, in which blasts on suburban trains claimed the lives of 187 innocents. And on September 8 last year in Malegaon, four powerful blasts claimed 31 lives.

Police say the same suspects, some of whom have been arrested, are involved in all three incidents. But investigators haven’t been able to present a complete picture.

According to case records, at least four persons booked for the Malegaon blasts are linked to the other two terrorist acts. Consider the following:

• One of the suspects arrested for the Malegaon blasts is Zahid Abdul Majid Ansari, and his younger brother Javed has been arrested in connection with the arms seizure.

• Ishtiaq Ahmed Mohammad Ishaq is an absconding accused in the Malegaon blasts case, and his younger brother Mushtaq has been arrested for the arms seizure.

• Two other accused in the Malegaon blasts case, Mohammad Ali and Asif Khan Bashir Khan of Mumbai, have been arrested for 7/11.

But bald claims are all that investigators are able to make. And though the arms haul and 7/11 are said to be the handiwork of Lashkar-e-Toiba, no cross-border terror outfit has yet been named for the Malegaon blasts, which police blame on SIMI.

Police say the blasts were masterminded by two Pakistani nationals, but they don’t even have their names.

The prime accused, Zahid Abdul Majid Ansari, is a cleric in a mosque in Phulsangvi village, Mohagaon taluka, of Yawatmal district, more than 500 km away from Malegaon. But more than 200 villagers have sworn on affidavit that he was leading prayers at the mosque the day of the blasts.

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