Police Inspector Dinesh Kadam of the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) from Mumbai ,deposed before the Additional Sessions Judge N P Dhote in the German Bakery blast case yesterday.
During his deposition, Kadam informed the court that the person seen in the CCTV footage recovered from the O Hotel, who kept the bag inside the bakery on February 13, 2010, was none other than Yasin Bhatkal, the fugitive terrorist of radical outfit Indian Mujahiddin (IM).u00a0
Bhatkal was also accused of masterminding several acts of terrorism in the country. Kadam, who had worked with the ATS from 2004 to 2006, was transferred to Mumbai Crime Branch, where he worked on terror-related inputs provided by central intelligence agencies and investigated several bomb blast cases.
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During cross-examination by Special Public Prosecutor Raja Thakre, Kadam said he was once again transferred
to the ATS in 2008, and after the German Bakery blast he had seen the footage captured by one of the CCTV cameras placed at the O Hotel, which was adjacent to the bakery.
He said the person seen in the footage, wearing a red cap, who had two bags — one was in hand and the other on his back — was none other than Bhatkal.
Kadam said he identified the person seen in the footage as Bhatkal, because he had this information during his tenure at intelligence gathering.
He said in May 2010, a person name Abdul Samad identified Bhatkal through his photograph during interrogation. Samad was arrested in another case in Mangalore.
After Samad’s arrested
in Mangalore, reports were published in some of the newspapers, which talked about his possible involvement in the blast case, but Kadam said Samad was never arrested for hisalleged involvement in the blast and was not related to the case.
Police Inspector Prasad Hasabnis of the Kondhwa police station was cross-examined by defence lawyer A Rehman. Hasabnis had visited the blast scene on the north main road in Koregaon Park after the blast and had seen the CCTV footage a number of times.
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