09 December,2010 07:01 AM IST | | Poornima Swaminathan
After Asgar Ali Peerbhoy's arrest, another engineer has taken charge of a newly-constituted cell that sent out the e-mail claiming responsibility for the Varanasi blast
AFTER the Mumbai Crime Branch crippled the Indian Mujahideen (IM) by arresting 21 alleged members and squashing a media cell that was created to send e-mails claiming responsibility after the blasts, the terror outfit has managed to return with a vengeance.
One child was killed and more than 35 others were injured in the blast thatu00a0 ripped through a crowded ghat in Varanasi on Tuesday.
Senior ATS officials said that after the arrest of Asgar Ali Peerbhoy, the founder and in-charge of the media cell of the IM, the outfit has managed to put together another media cell under an engineer from Faridabad.
This media cell is responsible for the e-mails sent after the Jama Masjid firing just before the Commonwealth Games and Tuesday's Varanasi blast. The new head of the cell is believed to be Mirza Shadab Baig (25), an engineer.
"Baig was born in Faridabad in Uttar Pradesh and was working in Noida. He has been on the intelligence radar for the last two years. Baig seems to be running the new media cell that sent the last two e-mails.
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He was also involved in a couple of other low-intensity blasts in northern India," said a senior ATS official.
Baig is believed to be in touch with several IM sleeper cells in Azamgarh and other parts of Uttar Pradesh.
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Senior officials said that he was also present at the L-18 flat at Jamia Nagar a day before the September 19 encounter by the Delhi police.
"Baig and Atif, who was killed in the encounter, went to the same school in Azamgarh. Baig was in regular touch with the Indian Mujahideen," said the official.
The e-mail sent after the Varanasi blast was drafted on December 6 and said the blast was to avenge the demolition of the Babri Masjid (see box).
The e-mail ID (alfateh00005@gmail.com) from which it was sent was accessed only twice.
12,500
The number of personnel from the central security forces UP CM Mayawati has asked the PM for to ensure security in popular tourist and religious spots in the state
'Biased verdict'
Titled 'Let's feel the pain together' and dated December 6, 2010 the anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition the Indian Mujahideen e-mail slams the judiciary for the September 30 Ayodhya verdict.
"Allahabad High Court's verdict of 'Aastha over Facts' is exemplary of the bias(ed) judiciary although Ram is a mythical figure," reads the e-mail, which also refers to reports last week that the SIT had given a clean chit to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 riots case and the recent heckling of Kashmiri activists in Kolkata and New Delhi.
With the Indian Mujahideen logo in place, the e-mail is signed "Al-Arbi," the same signature as on all previous IM mails.
The e-mail and the attack have come on the first day of the Islamic new year, and on the first Tuesday after the anniversary of the Babri demolition.
