By IANS,
Rampur (Uttar Pradesh) : Police here have begun a fresh probe into the activities of five men arrested almost six years ago on charges of being linked to the Pakistani intelligence.
This follows the serial bomb blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad that left at least 52 people dead and threats from militants to again attack sensitive targets in Rampur, said Superintendent of Police Veer Bahadur Singh.
On Jan 1 terrorists gunned down seven Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel and a civilian in a daring attack on a CRPF camp here.
“We will finish them off if they dare to strike again here,” Veer Bahadur Singh added.
Quoting from police records, he said that Javed Mian alias Guddu, Taj Mohammad, Maqsood and Mumtaz Mian were arrested in Rampur in the second fortnight of August 2002 on charges of forging links with the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency of Pakistan.
Another suspected ISI agent, Shakeel Ahmad alias Kari, was arrested Feb 1, 2003, while allegedly passing on security information to ISI.
Shakeel Ahmad and Mumtaz Mian were bailed out respectively in 2004 and 2005. The others are still in jail, the officer said.
Two Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) activists, Hashim Raza Khan and Izzat Mian, were also arrested in September 2001 on charges of making provocative speeches. Though they were released on bail, Hashim Raza still had links with the now banned SIMI, the police officer alleged.
He said that a number of people with alleged links to SIMI and ISI had entered Rampur from Jharkhand, Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh.
The police chief said his men were regularly checking ‘sarais’ and hotels to keep an eye on outsiders.