By IANS,
Lucknow/Ghaziabad/New Delhi : A key suspect in the low-intensity blast in Delhi High Court premises Wednesday was arrested in Ghaziabad in a joint operation by Delhi Police and Uttar Pradesh’s Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) Friday and a hunt is on for his accomplice, a senior police official said.
“We managed to arrest Gulfam from Pilkuha village in Ghaziabad district,” Special Director General of Police Brij Lal told media persons in Lucknow.
Gulfam’s accomplice Nafees was, however, stated to be “absconding.” Meanwhile, the joint team of police has picked up about 10 other people for interrogation.
Delhi Police Joint Commissioner (Special Cell) R.Krishnia, however, denied any arrests.
According to Brij Lal, both the suspects belonged to Pilkuha area on Ghaziabad, adjoining to Delhi, where they were working as roadside hawkers. “We have reason to believe that they were sleeper modules of Indian Mujahideen, that has been involved in carrying out blasts in different parts of the country.”
Asked what could be the reason behind the low-intensity blast by a notorious terrorist organisation like Indian Mujahideen, he said: “Apparently, these fellows were trainees who were still in the process of acquiring expertise in preparing explosives and carrying out blasts.”
According to him, “there were two batches of Indian Mujahideen activists – a team of fully trained terrorists and another of trainees”.
Brij Lal claimed that even as the nature of explosives used in the Delhi blast was quite lethal, the blast turned out to be of low intensity and did not cause the intended devastation simply because novices were entrusted with the task, which they could not carry out properly.
“We have been lucky that these novices ended up doing a shabby job, thereby saving any major damage,” he said.
According to police officials in Ghaziabad, a Delhi Police team, on the track of Nafees, raided his hideout in Pawala village under Pilkuha police station jurisdiction of the district but could not find him. Nafees’s brother Gulfam, who was also wanted, was arrested.
Ghaziabad’s Superintendent of Police (Rural) Ajay Kumar confirmed Gulfam’s arrest but said that Delhi Police did not take Ghaziabad police into confidence and carried out the raid without informing them.
A crude bomb went off outside the Delhi High Court complex around 1.15 p.m. Wednesday. No casualty was reported.
The explosion took place near the right-hand front wheel of a car in a parking bay, close to the boundary wall of the court complex.
Less than 250 gram explosive was used in the low intensity blast, Delhi Police Commissioner B.K. Gupta said in a preliminary inquiry report given to the home ministry Thursday.