By IANS,
Noida/Lucknow : A day ahead of India’s Republic day celebrations, two suspected Pakistani terrorists were killed early Sunday in a gun battle with the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in Noida near the national capital, police said.
The suspected terrorists were intercepted while they were travelling in a white Maruti 800 car in Noida Sector 97 at 2.15 a.m., Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Brij Lal, chief of Uttar Pradesh ATS, told a press conference in Lucknow.
“The terrorists opened fire at the ATS team, which fired back. The driver of the car lost control and went off the road. Then the police team took cover behind a road divider and fired at them. During the gun battle, ATS officer Vinod Kumar Singh sustained a bullet injury,” Brij Lal said.
The terrorists were injured in the shootout and were taken to hospital, where they were declared brought dead, he added.
Brij Lal said: “The two were identified as Abu Ismail of Rawalkot and Farookh alias Ali Ahmed of Rahimyar Khan in Pakistan.”
Efforts were on to find out their local contacts, he added.
ATS sources in Lucknow said that the type of weapons seized indicate the two could belong to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist outfit and may have planned to target the Republic Day parade in New Delhi Monday. But Brij Lal said “confirmation in this regard can be made only after the completion of inquiry”.
On the basis of a tip-off from an informer, the ATS chased the suspects, who were going towards New Delhi in their Maruti car No. UP-14-E-9531, Inspector General of Police Gurcharan Lal said.
The suspected terrorists realised they were being followed and to dodge the police, they diverted their car from National Highway 24 to the Sai temple at Model Town Chowki on the Noida border, Gurcharan Lal said.
The ATS team headed by H.N. Singh meanwhile sought additional police force and once more personnel joined them, the team cornered the suspects at Sector 97.
Those in the car, finding themselves cornered, opened fire from their AK-47 rifles at the police, who also retaliated and punctured the car’s left rear wheel, the official said.
When the car lost balance and hit the divider, the terrorist jumped out of the car and started firing at the police after taking position in a ditch along the road, he added.
In the exchange of firing for about 15 minutes, the two suspected terrorists were gunned down and police constable Vinod sustained gunshot injuries in his leg.
When they were being taken to the hospital, police questioned one of the two suspects, who revealed their identities as Ali Ahmad alias Farooq and Abu Ismail, added Gurcharan Lal, who inspected the crime spot.
“The police recovered two AK-47 rifles, four magazines, 120 used and live cartridges, five hand grenades, nine rods of RDX containing about 1.5 kg, Rs.18,000 in cash, a passport containing name of one Farooq bearing address of Rahimyar Khan, a fake identity card, a diary containing telephone numbers and two air bags from their possession,” said the official.
Police found that the car had been stolen from Noida for which a complaint had been lodged.
The number plate mounted on the car was false and the registration number UP-14-E-9531 was that of Bajaj Chetak scooter in the name of Pawan Verma of Ghaziabad, who had sold his vehicle. After a series of deals, the scooter was last sold to Shakeel, a resident of Dadri.
Police are interrogating Shakeel, said Kavi Nagar station officer Sunil Kumar.