BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad has initiated a fresh probe into alleged 'American' and 'political' connections of Gujarat serial-blast convict Md Ali and some of his close relatives, say sources in the agency.
Md Ali alias Vikram Sen, a native of Jabalpur, is one of the 11 sentenced to life imprisonment by a Gujarat court on Friday for the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts that killed 56 people and injured over 200. Thirty-eight of 49 convicts were sentenced to death.
Ali - alleged to be the 'treasurer' of SIMI - was the first 'official' arrest of Madhya Pradesh ATS after it was set up in August 2008. He was caught in an operation codenamed 'Jimma'.
This unit was headed by IPS officer (then DIG) Pawan Srivastava, with a task force of 175 personnel, comprising three SPs, seven DSPs, 13 inspectors, 36 SIs, 54 head constables and 62 constables. Many more SIMI members were arrested by this unit later on.
According to sources, ATS found that two 'Americans' from Mumbai had visited Ali's house in Jabalpur on August 9, 2018. "They arrived around 7pm and stayed for two hours," said an officer, adding that STF is trying to find out why they visited the house of a terror bombing accused. One of Ali's close relatives was a local-level office-bearer of a political party in Jabalpur, said the officer.
Ali was the SIMI treasurer since 2001, say police. In his statement recorded by ATS, he had disclosed names of some regular sponsors of SIMI activities besides confessing to giving financial help to the family members of Safdar Nagori and other activists after they were arrested, he said.
Ali was 30 years old when he was arrested from Kareli town of Narsinghpur district in 2008. He was accused of arranging funds used by SIMI to buy a house in Bhuj before the blasts. Investigators say the house was bought with the money the organisation collected for providing relief to the 2001 earthquake victims in Bhuj. They sold this house in 2007, allegedly to fund the July 26 serial blasts in Ahmedabad.
