The UP Special Task Force says one phone call to Bangladesh two weeks before the March 7 Varanasi blasts by Phoolpur Imam Waliullah brought him on their radar.

STF officials said Waliullah made this call on February 20 from his mobile phone to Asadullah, the Huji chief in Bangladesh, inviting him to send some workers to the Tabligh Jamaat Ijtima, a religious gathering, near Allahabad. But Waliullah was told instead: “Kuch ladke tumhare paas bhej rahe hain. Unko kaam karna hai Benaras mein, madad kar dena (We are sending you some boys, they have to work in Varanasi, help them).”

“The call was most crucial,” STF SSP S K Bhagat told The Indian Express. Tracking the number, the STF team landed in Phoolpur on March 26, where a PCO owner told them that Waliullah frequently called Bangladesh. The STF picked up Waliullah the same night and brought him to Lucknow for questioning.