Raids in Maha over arrest of techie with ‘terror’ links

The Maharashtra ATS has searched the premises of a teacher in Thane and another person in Pune in connection with the recent arrest of a software engineer for his alleged links with Al Qaeda and other banned outfits, officials said on Wednesday.

The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) clarified that the searches were not linked to the Delhi car blast, but added that as part of the standard procedure, it was examining whether there was a possible Maharashtra link to the incident in the national capital.

The officials said the teacher's house at Mumbra in Thane district was used for one of the meetings by the arrested Pune-based software engineer, Zubair Hangargekar.

The ATS had nabbed Hangargekar (37) from Pune on October 27 for his alleged links with banned outfits and for his suspected involvement in radicalisation activities.

Besides, the teacher is neither an accused nor a witness in the case, said an official. "We searched the premises of two individuals - one in Kondhwa (area in Pune) and another in Mumbra - and questioned them," another official said.

A search was also conducted at another teacher's house at Kurla in central Mumbai, sources said, adding that he used to come to teach Urdu at a madrassa every Sunday.