By IANS,
New Delhi : The police have arrested three more suspected terrorists linked to the shootout in the Indian capital Friday that killed two terrorists and a decorated police officer, officials said Sunday.
The police also took into custody the caretaker of the house in Jamia Nagar in south Delhi where security forces and a group of five terrorists traded gun fire two days ago.
A police officer named them Shakir, Zia and Shakil. The caretaker was identified as Abdul Rehman but the police did not dub him a terrorist.
They said Rehman managed the L-18 Batla House in Jamia Nagar, a largely Muslim locality, where five suspected terrorists – including two who died Friday – had been holed up apparently for some two months.
The latest arrests took to five the number of suspected terrorists who officials say belonged to the shadowy Indian Mujahideen and were responsible for a string of terror attacks including one in Delhi that killed 24 people Sep 13.
One of the men shot dead by the police, Atif, has been described as the mastermind of the serial bombings in the capital that also injured over 100 people. Many of them are still warded in hospitals.
The police arrested a third young man from the Jamia Nagar flat Friday and said that two others managed to escape.
The shooting killed Mohan Chand Sharma, one of the most highly decorated police officers in India. He was part of the Delhi Police Special Cell which uncovered the alleged terror cell in Jamia Nagar and was the first to try entering the hideout when he was shot.
The three now arrested are said to be part of a 13-member terror module believed to have carried out devastating serial bombings in Delhi, Jaipur and Ahmedabad between May and September, together killing more than 130 people.
The police are now hunting for the six remaining members of the 13-member gang.
The first two to be arrested, Saif, who was picked up from the Jamia Nagar house after the gun battle, and Zeeshan, who was arrested from Jhandewalan in Delhi Friday night, have reportedly told the police how the bombings were planned and executed. Both have been sent to police custody for 14 days.