Varzul Khan, one of the key accused in the Mulund train blast case of 2003, and who was arrested last week by Mumbai’s Anti-Terrorism Squad, has confessed to the charges levelled against him, after a co-accused testified against him.
Khan told his interrogators that during their training in Padgha, Noor Mohammed, who was arrested earlier, had ordered the trainees not to spill the beans on the other members of the module, if anyone was arrested. However, Mohammed flouted his own rule by naming Khan.
“Khan is the 17th accused arrested in the case so far. Many of the other accused had given us details about Khan’s involvement in the blast. When Khan was informed about what his accomplices said about his role, he admitted to his crime, and said that there was no point in denying their statements,” said a source.
According to the source, Khan was particularly upset with Mohammed for behaving contrary to his own preaching. “Khan trained under Mohammed in Padgha. He recalled how the trainees were told not to give out names of other accomplices in case one of them was arrested, but when Mohammed himself named Khan, the latter got angry,” the source said.
Meanwhile, Khan has told his interrogators that the main conspirator of the Mulund blast, Tahir Ansari had met him some time
back in Dharavi area. Ansari is believed to have assembled the bombs used in
the blasts. Khan ran an embroidery workshop in Dharavi.
“Khan has described Ansari to be more lethal than the Bhatkal brothers — the Indian Mujahideen founders. He said that Ansari had formed a module and orchestrated the entire blast,” he said.