Two leading Indian Mujahideen (IM) activists Mujeeb Sheikh and Abu Faisal, who were recently arrested in Madhya Pradesh, have become the focal point of the investigation into the 13/7 blasts. Wanted in connection with the terror attack on Ahmedabad in July 2008, they are considered dangerous and "active terrorists". 

The duo had plotted to kill judges of the Allahabad High Court, who gave the verdict awarding a major portion of the disputed Babri site to Hindus. Two of their accomplices killed a constable of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Madhya Pradesh Police at Ratlam in MP before they were arrested. 

The duo is considered more crucial than others, who were arrested along with them, for two reasons. First, Mujeeb is from Ahmedabad, a fact that assumes significance in view of the intelligence community's conviction that people from the Narendra Modi-ruled state were targets of Wednesday's blasts. The IM had confessed to targeting Mumbai-based Gujaratis also on July 11, 2006, in the bombing of seven first-class compartments of local trains. 

Second, the group engineered huge attacks on Ahmedabad and Surat allegedly to avenge the post-Godhra killings of Muslims in Gujarat. Mujeeb and two other Gujarati jehadis, Aurangzeb Afridi and Keyamuddin Kapadia, were part of the group that collaborated with IM operatives from Azamgarh in the attack on Ahmedabad. 

His intense motivation for retaliation is the reason why investigators suspect Mujeeb will know a few things about the identity of the bombers --- estimated to be about five-six - who focused on Gujaratis again in Mumbai.

Investigating agencies fear that the suspected revival of the IM module spells a big threat for Gujarat cities, and have already asked the state government to ramp up its defences against bigger terror attacks. 

Investigators believe that being the latest among the key IM operatives to have been nabbed, Mujeeb and Faisal should be aware of the plans of the terror outfit and those who are suspected to be behind the latest attack on Mumbai. 

Juhu-resident Faisal is no ordinary jehadi, either. It was he who had asked Mujeeb and another IM operative Aslam to work out the logistics for the planned attack on Allahabad HC judges who gave the Babri verdict. He is a close associate of fugitive terrorist from Mumbai, Abdus Subhan alias Tauqir. Agencies have identified Subhan as the person who acted as the link between the SIMI operatives from Azamgarh and IM leaders Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal. 

Sources say that SIMI operatives were looking for smaller targets when Subhan motivated them to aim for bigger strikes, leading to a spate of terror attacks on cities. 

Although on the run, Subhan, a Meera Road resident, has been taking shelter with IM operatives across the country, leading the agencies to suspect that Faisal could shed light on the network from where IM draws its bombers. 

Ranchi-resident Daanish Riyaaz, an alleged IM operative, who was arrested last month from Vadodara railway station, has been accused of providing hideouts for Subhan not just in his hometown, but also in Khandwa and Seoni in MP. This shows the extensive links that Subhan and Faisal have with IM operatives.(ET)