Haroon Naik an expert at making bombs

Haroon Rashid Abdul Hamid Naik - who was arrested from a Wadala lodge in August for running a counterfeit currency racket and later booked for his purported role in the 13/7 blasts - is allegedly an expert bomb maker.

Naik, affiliated to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and al-Qaeda since 2000, was trained to make high-grade explosives with precision in Pakistan, said sources from the anti-terrorism squad (ATS). The circuit diagrams that Naik drew during his interrogation revealed his skills as an expert bomb maker, said police sources. Naik could even handle a complex formula and is adept at handling a C4, a military grade explosive.

Naik underwent the basic LeT course of Daura-e-Aam and Daura-e-Khaas training at Bahawalpur. After he showed interest in fighting against the Northern Alliance and the US forces in Afghanistan, he was given the Bait-ur-Rizwan training. In this course -allegedly imparted by Pakistan's crack Special Services Group's Zarar Company, Bahawalpur - he was trained in handling explosives.

Naik has identified a serving Pakistan army general as his handler. The general now handles Riyaz Bhatkal, said police sources. Naik, who used the border of Bangladesh and Nepal to enter India, visited various states in the country.

The state ATS is now investigating the reasons behind his visit to these states and whether he was key to Indian Mujahideen's (IM) reconnaissance plots. The investigation has spread to 18 states with all major counter-terrorist units in the country being informed about the visits, said police sources. He had left for Saudi Arabia in 2005 to operate from there by posing as a businessman.