With Thursday’s arrest of alleged prime conspirator of the September 8 Malegaon blasts, Shabbir Ahmed Mushirullah alias Batterywallah, the Maharashtra Anti Terrorist Squad has stumbled upon links between Malegaon, the serial train blasts in Mumbai and the May 10 seizure of arms and explosives at Aurangabad.

Officials say that it is now emerging that what started with the RDX blast aboard the Karnavati Express on February 18 at Ahmedabad earlier this year, culminated with the serial blasts at Malegaon on September 8.

The ATS has now found a strong evidence linking the Aurangabad, Mumbai and Malegaon terror modules. According to investigators, they not only had a common handler but they also happened to know each other well.

ATS chief Joint Commissioner of Police K P Raghuvanshi confirmed the links that have emerged between the three modules. “They know each other and have been in regular contact. We are probing further to establish their exact involvement in these (Malegaon-Aurangabad-7/11) cases,” he said. ATS and Mumbai police crime branch officials say that Shabbir Batterywallah is the strongest common link between the Aurangabad, Mumbai and Malegaon modules.

Batterywallah was arrested by the crime branch on August 11 under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for being an active SIMI member and was subsequently arrested by the ATS for alleged conspiracy of Malegaon blasts.

The blast aboard the Karnavati Express had been the handiwork of key LeT operative and member of the Aurangabad module Fayaz Riaz Ahmed Kagzi who is now believed to be in Pakistan. SIMI activist Noor-ul-Huda has already been held for his alleged involvement in the Malegaon blasts. He was Batterywallah’s employee and is now named as a planter of one of the three bombs at Malegaon. Batterywallah had not only put together the Malegaon module but was also in know about the arms landing at Aurangabad and had been since last year been in close contact with Kagzi and Zahibuddin Ansari — prime accused in the arms haul case, the police claim.

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