Maharashtra ATS, which had announced Rs 10 lakh reward each on Indian Mujahideen chief Yasin Bhatkal and his three aides allegedly involved in terror cases, received as many as 40 phone calls in a week's time to provide them clues, but yielded no results so far
u00a0
According to police, the callers claimed that they had spotted persons resembling the wanted accused either in a public transport bus or at places like bus stops and railway stations.u00a0
ADVERTISEMENT
u00a0
However, as of now nothing concrete has emerged during the verification by the ATS men.u00a0
u00a0
IM operativesu00a0Yasin Bhatkal, Tahasheen Akhtar, Asadullah Akhtar and Waqas
Besides these 40 telephone calls, about 60 missed calls were received at the numbers provided by the ATS as the callers wanted to verify if they were correct, police said.u00a0
u00a0
"When we called them back after the missed calls, the callers said they wanted to verify whether the numbers were correct so that they could make calls if they spot the terrorists," said a police officer.u00a0
u00a0
One of the callers asked the ATS to mail him the photographs of the wanted accused as the pictures on the posters were not clear, police added.u00a0
u00a0
Another person who had called from Pune said he had spotted a person resembling one of the wanted accused Asadullah Akhtar Javed Akhtar a few days ago following which an ATS team rushed to him and took down the details.u00a0
u00a0
A phone call was received from Nagpur but in vain, police said, adding that whenever they got a phone call, they did not take them lightly and verified the details.u00a0
u00a0
On February 12, the ATS had announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh each to any person providing information leading to the arrest of Yasin Bhatkal (30), Tahaseen Akhtar Wasim Aktar Shaikh (23), Asadulla Akhtar Javed Akhtar (26) and Waqas alias Ahmed (26).
u00a0
The ATS had requested the public to inform the police if they spot the four wanted accused, on the two dedicated mobile numbers 09619122222, 08652012345 and landline number 022-23791619.u00a0
u00a0
Citizens were also asked to email them at atswantedaccused@gmail.com oratswantedaccused@yahoo.co.in.u00a0
u00a0
All the four wanted accused were allegedly involved in three coordinated bomb explosions at different locations in the peak evening hours in Mumbai on July 13, 2011.u00a0
u00a0
The blasts had occurred at Opera House, Zaveri Bazaar, and Dadar West, leaving 27 dead and 130 injured, the ATS said.u00a0
u00a0
Five accused had been arrested in connection with the blasts and a 4000-page charge sheet was filed in May last year in a special MCOCA court.u00a0
u00a0
Except Tahaseen, who planted a bomb in the Dadar blast, the rest three were also involved in the four co-ordinated low-intensity explosions, which struck the busy arterial road in the heart of Pune city on August 1, 2012.u00a0
u00a0
Eight accused had been arrested in this connection. Yasin and Asadulla were also involved in bomb blasts which took place in the past one decade in Ahmedabad, Surat, Bangalore, Delhi and Hyderabad, the ATS said.
"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels 
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
