When the police tapped Salman's phone

They nabbed the suspected IM operative, more arrests likely soon

They nabbed the suspected IM operative, more arrests likely soon

Following the February 13 Pune blast, investigating agencies have stepped up pressure on the Indian Mujahideen (IM). One of the important strategies has been to monitor the phone records of key IM suspects.

And the scheme apparently paid off with the arrest of 21-year-old Salman Ansari, a computer student and alleged IM operative, on March 5. And the security agencies expect more such breakthroughs in the coming days.u00a0 Sources from the intelligence agencies and the police say they have been keeping a track on all terror modules and have been intercepting the calls of key suspects since the attack on German bakery.

Salman was the first IM man to be arrested after the attack. He was tracked through call interception and was later arrested by the UP police near the Nepal border. Salman has been handed over to the Delhi police.

Some intelligence sources said, "It is not clear if IM is behind the Pune blast, but we have been keeping a constant eye on them and also other terror modules. There has always been a watch on suspicious numbers

Police claims

On December 12, 2009, Salman had left for Pakistan to attend a training camp under the name Fahad Ansari, on a fake passport he managed to get from Nepal. After the training, he returned to Nepal on January 22, 2010. In the camp, he learnt to make bombs and trained himself as a fidayeen who could handle sophisticated firearms including AK 47s.

and call intercepting, but it has become very stringent after the blast. Many such calls are being intercepted and all the agencies have been working to track them."

According to police sources, IM has got many new recruits, as a number of its cadres were arrested after the spate of terror attacks in 2008 and the names and identities of others were revealed. Police have been trying to break the new modules by identifying and apprehending the fresh recruits.u00a0u00a0

Salman Ansari, a resident of Azamgarh was wanted since the 2008 attacks in Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Delhi, and had a reward of Rs one lakh on him. Police have also been questioning Salman in connection with the Gorakhpur and Varanasi attacks in 2006.u00a0 His name began to figure among suspects since the Delhi blasts of September 2008. It was the Delhi police who picked up his trail. They wired his name to Uttar Pradesh and other states in December 2008, which led to his arrest.