Patna: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) yesterday released sketches and details of the five people wanted in connection with serial bomb blasts in Patna and Bodh Gaya in Bihar, and sought the help of the general public in nabbing them.
A cash award was also announced for any information leading to the arrest of the men, wanted for involvement in planning and executing acts of terrorism, including the July 7, 2013 Bodh Gaya blasts and the October 27, 2013 Patna blasts.
The NIA, which is probing the recent serial blasts, in a press release on its official website, said that five suspects including Tahseen Akhtar alias Monu, Haider Ali alias Abdullah, Numan Ansari, Taufeeq Ansari and Mojibullah, who are absconding, were wanted by it.
The NIA has announced a cash reward of `1m for any information leading to the arrest of Tahseen Akhtar and Haider Ali, and Rs.5 lakh for information leading to the arrest of the three others.
All five suspects are considered operatives of the banned Indian Mujahideen, an outfit suspected of involvement in the Bodh Gaya and Patna serial blasts.
Akhtar alias Monu, considered the mastermind of both serial blasts, is a resident of a village in Samastipur district of Bihar. Others named by the NIA are residents of Jharkhand.
Tahseen Akhtar, said to be running Indian Mujahideen operations after the arrest of Yaseen Bhatkal, is also wanted by the NIA for involvement in other blasts. Ten bombs exploded at Bodh Gaya’s Mahabodhi temple in which two Buddhist monks were injured. Three live bombs were recovered and defused.
The Mahabodhi temple — a Unesco World Heritage site — is where the Buddha, born in neighbouring Nepal, attained enlightenment around 2,550 years ago.
PM assures full support to new Maldives leader
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday congratulated Abdulla Yameen, the president-elect of the Maldives, and assured him of India’s full support in his efforts to provide a peaceful and prosperous future for the people of the archipelago nation.
In a message, the prime minister termed Yameen’s election victory “a triumph for the forces of democratic pluralism in the Maldives”.
“It gives me great pleasure to extend to you my heartiest congratulations on your victory in the presidential elections,” Manmohan Singh said in his message. “Your success is also a triumph for the forces of democratic pluralism in the Maldives. I am confident that, under your stewardship, the Maldives will move further ahead on the path of stability, peace, progress and development.” “India and the Maldives are bound together by historical, cultural and civilisational ties.
IANS
