India’s most wanted terrorist and Indian Muhajideen chief Yasin Bhatkal had purchased electronic goods, including laptop and batteries from Ritchie Street off Anna Salai in 2011, when there was an unsuccessful attempt by the Delhi police to nab him.
This was revealed during the interrogation of those who stayed with Bhatkal in a house in Selaiyur.
The police had then conducted inquiries with the shops visited by the alleged terrorist.
A few CCTV cameras on Ritchie Street had also recorded the movements of Bhatkal and the person with whom he was staying in the Selaiyur house.
All the seven students who were staying in the house were picked up by the police and were found innocent, who were later let off.
However, the city residents were kept in the dark about the identity of the dreaded terrorist who had walked amongst them.
On the night of November 26, 2011, the Delhi police, in coordination with the Chennai City police, made an unsuccessful attempt to nab him.
While newspapers reported about the operation in which seven students and a 50-year-old man was picked up from a house at Selaiyur, city residents were unaware that the prized catch which the police let slip was Yasin Bhatkal.
“Since the operation was mainly conducted by the Delhi police, we did not explicitly reveal that the person was Bhatkal.
“We also did not want to create any fear in the minds of the public. But we had indicated that the person who escaped was a wanted mastermind behind so many bomb blasts,” said an officer, who was privy to the operations in 2011.