Highly-placed sources told the Newsline that before his arrest in Lucknow on January 2 by the UP Anti-Terrorism Squad, Hakeem was in touch with Mohammad Arif alias Junaid, who escaped the Batla House flat during the encounter.

“Hakim met Arif somewhere in Lucknow after the blasts. They decided to disperse so that the agencies could not trace them,” a source said.

Sources said Hakim does not seem to know about the present location of the accused, but he is sure they all are in UP.

“He used to talk to Arif over phone. They discussed what they should do since all police agencies were after them,” a senior officer said. “Hakim knew the UP police would speed up efforts to arrest them since the Delhi Police had announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh on each one of them.”

In Lucknow, Hakim was staying in a rented accommodation and did not keep a mobile phone.

“He left for Lucknow sometime in the last week of September. He called his family and other members of the Indian Mujahidin from PCO booths in Lucknow,” sources said.

The police would now take Hakim to the Delhi blast sites, the L-18 flat and Azamgarh to get clues about the other accused. He would also be taken to places in UP where he and other IM members went into hiding after the Delhi blasts.

Officials said when he left Delhi on September 12, he met Atif Ameen (IM module leader), Zeeshan, Arif, Saqib and Shahdab Baig.

He was also reportedly told about another group (fidayeen module) of the Indian Mujahideen by Atif Ameen, according to sources.

Official sources said, “We would confront the accused in custody with Hakim to corroborate the disclosures made by them and him.”

Accused Mohammad Saif is in Delhi; Zia, Saqib Mohammad Shakil and Zeeshan will be brought by police from Gujarat; and Mansoor Peerbhoy and Qayamuddin Kapadia will be brought from Mumbai.

Hakim sent to 10 days police custody
A suspect in the September 13 Delhi blasts Hakim Abdul Kareem has been sent to ten days’ police custody by a city court. Arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad in connection with the blasts in Karol Bagh, Hakim allegedly arranged the ball-bearings used in the bombs.

Moving the remand application, the police submitted before Metropolitan Magistrate Gaurav Rao that Hakim’s custody was required to collect information that could lead to the arrest of the 12 absconding co-accused.

In his disclosure statement, Hakim allegedly told the police about the role of Ariz Khan aka Junaid, Shadab Baig and Asadullah Akhtar in planting the bombs in Greater Kailash, India Gate and Karol Bagh, respectively.

ACP Sanjeev Yadav told the court that the police still needed to recover some mobile phone records and identify shops from where the ball-bearings were purchased. The police would take Hakim to Lucknow, Mumbai and Azamgarh for further investigation, Yadav said.

Hakim is a final year student of a private engineering college in Lucknow