IM operatives Maqbool, Imran taken back to Delhi

After questioning two operatives of banned terror group Indian Mujahideen (IM) in connection with the Feb 21 terror attack in Hyderabad, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Monday escorted them back to New Delhi.

Syed Maqbool and Imran Khan were taken back to the national capital by a flight amid tight security.

Medical tests were conducted on them at the NIA office at Begumpet before they were shifted to the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad.

The NIA, which questioned the alleged IM operatives for four days, will produce them before a Delhi court, which had granted their custody for five days on Feb 28.

Maqbool and Imran were lodged in Tihar Jail following their arrest by the Delhi Police in the August last year in Pune blast case.

The NIA grilled them in connection with the Feb 21 twin blasts in Hyderabad which claimed 16 lives and injured 117 others. They were also taken to the blast site in Dilsukhnagar by the investigators to know if it was one of the areas they recced in the city last year.

The NIA officials interrogated them about their reconnaissance activity in the city, those who helped them and their handlers said to be based in Pakistan.