Top terror suspect killed in high security Pune jail
PUNE: Indian Mujahideen operative Mohammad Qateel Siddiqui, accused of executing terror attacks in Bangalore and Delhi and involvement in the attempt to blow up Pune’s famed Dagadusheth Ganapati temple, was strangled to death by two other prisoners in a high-security cell of Pune’s Yerawada central jail on Friday morning. Siddiqui’s killing not only exposes the weaknesses in security for key terror suspects but is also bound to hamper investigations into the IM that is blamed for a series of attacks nationwide.
The 27-year-old terrorist was believed to be a close associate of Yasin Bhatkal, the main suspect in a string of terror attacks, including the German Bakery blast. Bhatkal is yet to be arrested.
Prison superintendent S V Khatavkar, who was later suspended by the Maharashtra government for the security lapse, told TOI in the morning that Siddiqui was found dead in his 10 ftx10 ft cubicle in the ‘anda’ cell of Yerawada. “We later learned that gangster Sharad Mohol and his aide Alok Bhalerao, who were also lodged in the ‘anda’ cell, had strangled Siddiqui to death with a drawstring from a pair of shorts around 9.45am,” he said.
Siddiqui was in custody of the Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad since May 3. He was handed over by Delhi police, who arrested him on November 22, 2011.
