With reports that Hyderabad blasts-accused Mohammed Sharifuddin alias Abu Hamza has been arrested in Bangladesh, the CBI plans to approach Dhaka through Interpol. The CBI is expected to argue that Hamza figured in investigations into the murder of former Gujarat Home Minister Haren Pandya in 2003, a case the agency is investigating.

Hamza (who also goes under the name of Kanchan and Hilal) is alleged to be involved in all three terror strikes in Hyderabad, including the Mecca Masjid (May 18, 2007) and the STF attack (October 12, 2005), and is said to be a close associate of the mastermind, Pakistan-based HUJI commander Shahid Bilal.

Hamza’s name also figured in several interrogation statements and investigations into the strike at Varanasi’s Sankatmochan temple.

As of now, there has been complete silence from Dhaka with no confirmation of the arrest from Bangladesh authorities. There have been indications over the past few months that the current regime in Bangladesh is keen to assist India by acting on specific intelligence inputs regarding militant leaders or groups. The Indo-Bangla Home Secretary-level talks here last month also saw some progress in this direction with the two countries agreeing to put a joint mechanism in place.

Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta said the government was aware of reports of the arrest but was verifying them “through our agencies”.

Sources said that once CBI approaches Dhaka through Interpol, Bangla authorities would have to inform Interpol if they had arrested Hamza or were aware of his whereabouts.

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