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The Mumbai police, who on Wednesday claimed to have achieved a breakthrough in the cases pertaining to the serial blasts at Ahmedabad [Images] and New Delhi [Images], also said that the dreaded Indian Mujahideen [Images] was being controlled from Pakistan and funded through hawala channels.

Bombers travelled to Pak via Iran: Cops

The Mumbai police named a person by the Amir Raza Khan, who is allegedly controlling the IM from Pakistan. Amir Raza Khan, according to the Intelligence Bureau, is a mafia don who used to operate from Bangladesh.

An IB official told rediff.com that Khan shuttled between Bangladesh and Pakistan, and had linked with the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, which was responsible for the attacks at Hyderabad and Ajmer last year.

His name first surfaced during the attack at the American Centre at Kolkata and since then he has been elusive.

It is further said that Khan worked closely with two other HuJI operatives by the name Rasool Khan Party, a don formerly based in Gujarat and Ahmed Patangiya who was also residing at the same state before fleeing to Pakistan.

While Rasool Khan and Patangiya took care of operations and training, Khan was largely involved in funding the IM, according to the IB.

The arrest of Afzal Usman by the Mumbai police was the turning point in Wednesday's crackdown. Usman, according to the IB, was part of an organized crime gang and worked for Amir Raza Khan.

Investigations by Mumbai Police had revealed that Usman played a key role in the Indian Mujhideen. He provided logistic support and also helped channelising the funds through hawala operations.

Apart from this Usman also had stolen cars in Mumbai and supplied it to some Indian Mujahideen operatives. The police suspect that two of the cars stolen by him were used in Surat [Images].

The cops are now probing the links between the IM and HuJI. The IB says that Abdus Subhan aka Tauqueer, who has fled the country, had close links with Shahid Bilal, the commander of HuJI (South India operations). It is said that Subhan was in constant touch with Bilal (before he was killed) and this indicates the close links between IM and the HuJI.