Know more about Indian Mujahideen chief Yasin Bhatkal

New Delhi: Yasin Bhatkal, real name Mohammed Ahmed Sidibapa, hails from the coastal town of Bhatkal in Karnataka. He is said to be the founder leader of terrorist organisation Indian Mujahideen (IM) along with his cousins Riyaz and Iqbal. Born on January 15, 1983, he is on the NIA's Most Wanted Terrorists list. It is said that he was in Dubai for a couple of years helping out with his father run a garment business. However, due to differences with his father he left Dubai and returned to India. It is stated that the differences arose over his radical thinking, which his father did not support. On his return to India, he started working closely with the IM. He raised Rs 14 lakh through donations and invested the same in a construction project. This, the Intelligence Bureau says, was a front to keep the terror funds coming in. He masterminded several other blasts across the country, including the 2011 Delhi high court blast, the 2010 German Bakery blast in Pune and the 2011 13/7 triple blasts in Mumbai. Bhatkal is also the main accused in the blast outside a stadium in Bangalore in 2010 during a cricket match. Ironically, Bhatkal was arrested in 2008 by the Kolkata police in a fake currency case but due to lack of coordination, the Kolkata Police had no clue who he was. Bhatkal assumed a false identity and managed to escape before a Delhi Police team could arrive to confirm who he was. Since then he was believed to have slipped into Bangladesh and then to Karachi in Pakistan. Bhatkal is wanted in several bomb blast cases in India, including the blast outside the Delhi High Court on September 7, 2011 in which 12 people were killed. Yasin is a cousin of Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal. Riyaz is the founder member of the IM and is responsible for setting up the outfit. He now lives in Karachi in Pakistan and is under the protection of the intelligence agencies over there. He has given the Indian agencies many a slip before he moved into Pakistan. Iqbal Bhatkal is the brother of Riyaz and also part of the founding team of the IM. A resident of Bhatkal in Karnataka, he was primarily in-charge of setting up modules in Gujarat. Today he is with his brother in Karachi. Yasin Bhatkal has gained cult status in the terror network largely because of the failure of security agencies to nab him.