Pretending to be their Syrian handler, ahead of bombing of Ujjain-bound train, he helped to secure the arrest of three IS sympathisers.

On March 7, the Madhya Pradesh police arrested three men — Danish Akhtar, Syed Mir Hussain and Atif Muzaffar — from Pipariya, around 300 km from Bhopal, for allegedly planting a pipe bomb on the Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train. Nine people were injured in the explosion.

The bomb was planted around 8.30 a.m. at the Bhopal railway station and it exploded around one-and-half-hours later when the train reached the Shajapur station.

Based on inputs

Within hours, the Madhya Pradesh police announced that the three men, who had planted the bomb in the passenger train, had been arrested on the basis of information provided by Central intelligence agencies.

Four others were arrested from Uttar Pradesh while one man, Saifullah, was killed in an encounter in Thakurganj area of Lucknow the same night.

U.P. ADG Daljit Singh Chaudhary told a news agency a day later that the Telangana police had provided specific intelligence about the whereabouts of the group, who were inspired by the Islamic State. A senior Home Ministry official told The Hindu that the accused were caught within hours as they were being trailed by a Telangana police officer.

The police officer followed the accused from Lucknow when they boarded the Pushpak Express on March 6 and even when they got down at the Bhopal railway station.

“This officer had penetrated the various social media platforms the group used to search for information related to the Islamic State. All of them are self-radicalised and they even made several attempts to go to Syria and even to Kashmir for jihad. When they failed, they decided to do something in India,” the Ministry official said.

Gaining their trust

The Telangana officer gained their trust and pretended to be their Syria-based handler.

The DGP, Telangana, Anurag Sharma, could not be contacted for comment, despite repeated attempts.

“The accused told their handler they wanted to procure explosives and weapons. They downloaded al-Qaeda’s propaganda magazine Inspire and IS’s magazine Dabiq to learn how to prepare the bomb. They made the bomb at the rented house in Lucknow, where Saifullah was killed. On March 7, three of them boarded Pushpak Express from Lucknow and wanted to plant the bomb in it. Seeing the crowd, they dropped the plan and travelled till Bhopal in the Mumbai-bound train,” the official said.

The official said that the police officer had not known till then that they had planted the explosives, and got to know about it only when one of them, Atif Muzaffar, sent him a photograph an hour later. They were on way to Allahabad when they were caught at Pipariya, and from there they planned to reach Lucknow.

On March 9, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan claimed that Atif Muzaffar, a resident of Kanpur was the “mastermind of the attack” and the accused belonged to IS. “They clicked the photo of the bomb and sent it to their handlerWhen they got off the train at Bhopal, they saw a passenger train across the platform and planted the bomb on the upper berth of the train. It departed soon after,” said the official. in Syria. One of them is a mechanic and they learnt the preparation of the bomb through Internet,” Mr. Chouhan had told a news agency.

Coordinated operation

“It was at this time that the police officer alerted other agencies and a coordinated operation was launched to nab them. He was still trailing them and it was he who gave the exact location of the men when they were arrested at Pipariya. The officer told U.P police about the house where Saifullah was staying and he even told them about the room where he was holed up,” said the official.

The same day, Madhya Pradesh police released a video footage to the media, where the two accused were seen alighting from a bus near a toll plaza. The video appears to have been shot by someone who was keeping a watch on them from a distance. At one point, the person shooting the video even asks a person who comes in front of his camera to move away.

The official said that the blast could have been averted had the Telengana police officer alerted the U.P police when the accused were procuring weapons and explosives. Eight pistols, gun powder and shrapnel were recovered from the house where Saifullah was killed.

“At best, we could describe them as an IS-inspired group, but with no direct connection with anyone in Syria. Mohammad Ghaus Khan, a former IAF employee was their ideologue,” said the official.

After initially claiming the accused belonged to the Khorasan wing of the IS, the Uttar Pradesh police retracted their statement and said the accused were “self proclaimed” members of the terrorist group.

In his statement to the Lok Sabha, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said: “M.P Police coordinated with Central agencies for the investigation of the incident. Subsequently, based on available intelligence, three suspects were taken into custody by M.P. Police during vehicle checking at Pipariya in district Hoshangabad.”

Undercover operation

A pipe bomb exploded on the Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train near Jabdi station in Shajapur around 10 a.m. on March 7, injuring 9 persons. A look at the key accused and how the case was cracked.

Swift action: Within hours of the blast, 7 persons were arrested in Madhya Pradesh and U.P. The 8 accused, Saifullah, was killed in an encounter in Lucknow. Under watch: The accused were netted within hours as they were being trailed by a Telangana police officer

The accused