The Hindu : Probe on to identify Hasan's aides

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Andhra Pradesh-Hyderabad

Probe on to identify Hasan's aides

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD Sept. 16. The alleged mastermind behind the Mumbai twin blasts, Nasir, and his Hyderabad associate, Habib Hasan, who were shot dead by the police, had visited an Internet centre in Chandrayanagutta a couple of times before the blasts. This was disclosed by Hasan's business partner, Abdul Rehman, on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters here, Rehman said that he came in contact with Hasan, as the latter used to frequent his Internet centre, Skynet, located at Chandrayanagutta. "I happened to see Hasan along with another person, whom I believe to be Nasir,'' he said.

Rehman said that he thought of closing down Skynet as he was incurring losses.

On learning about it, Hasan reportedly asked him to open another centre at New Shamsheergunj and assured to invest in the new venture. Accordingly, the duo invested Rs. 40,000 each and set up `Barracks', computer centre, in the area three months ago.

Nasir used to sit in the new centre during nights, he said. "I really don't know much about his activities except that he used to browse and chat a lot at Skynet as well as the new centre,'' he said.

Rehman maintained that Hasan was very much in Hyderabad a few days before and after the blasts. "A week after the blasts, he told me that he was leaving for Mumbai to assist her sister, Aisha, to get visa,'' he recalled.

Hasan's family members refused to speak when reporters contacted them in Barkas this morning. Locals said that Hasan, along with his sister, Aisha, went to Mumbai in the first week of September. They stayed in a lodge there for a few days, as they could not immediately get the visa.

On September 10, Nasir met Hasan in Mumbai and took him out on some work. Since then Hasan was not seen. According to them, Hasan's family members in Hyderabad were informed of his death on Monday last through a police officer.

Meanwhile, Intelligence officials raided Barracks and took away hard discs of computers. It is suspected that the discs contained valuable information about Hasan's contacts with other culprits.

The Hyderabad Additional Commissioner of Police (co- ordination), A.K. Khan, said that investigation was on to identify Hasan's friends and their complicity, if any, in the blasts.

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