Gopalgarh revenge: Engineering students, Pakistani national among IM terrorists arrested in Rajasthan
It is the first instance when natives from Rajasthan have been arrested for allegations of being involved in terror acts.
Two engineering college students from Jaipur and a Pakistani national are among five suspected terrorists of Yasin Bhatkal-led Indian Mujahideen arrested with huge cache of explosives in Rajasthan since Saturday.
One of their accomplices has escaped from Jodhpur. Others were planning to escape to Afghanistan after carrying out the terror strikes.
It is the first instance when natives from Rajasthan have been arrested for allegations of being involved in terror acts.
They had conducted recce of one Ganganagar Temple in Bharatpur as well as of the crowded and tourist places in Jaipur.
According to sources, Bharatpur was on their target apparently in revenge for the Gopalgarh Mosque firing incident way back in September 2011, in which ten people belonging to the Meo community were killed.
Sources said other specific targets were being investigated and won't say if Pushkar, considered of late a hub of tourists from Israel was also a target besides malls and other places with heavy foot falls.
All accused in early 20s
All of the accused are in their early twenties. A large quantity of explosives, timers, IED devices, two complete integrated circuit boards, wires and ball bearings have been recovered from them.
One of them has told interrogators that he had applied for passport and had plans to escape to Afghanistan.
The operation was planned on concrete intelligence provided by the Intelligence Bureau and carried out by the Special Branch of Delhi Police and teams of Anti Terrorist Squad of Rajasthan, Jaipur and Jodhpur police.
Dreaded Pakistani Waqas arrested from Ajmer
The first arrest was of Zia ur Rehman alias Waqas, 25, a resident of Toba Tek Singh in Pakistan's Punjab province.
A former student of Food Technology in Faislabad, Waqas joined the IM in 2009.
His father was a resident of Phagwara in Punjab from where family migrated to Pakistan in 1947. He arrived in India via Nepal, four years ago.
He along with Tehsin Monu , a resident of Bihar had been on run ever since arrest of Yasin Bhatkal.
His movements were traced to different states in India including Karnataka, Kerala and Odisha. He has been linked to blasts in Mumbai and Hyderabad and a few others.
Movements of two SIM cards that were purchased by the Bhatkal module were found in Jodhpur. That led to Rajasthan ATS release his and Monu's posters a few months ago.
Waqas had arrived in Ajmer by train on Saturday where he was arrested. His interrogation led to more arrests.
Engineering Students caught in Jaipur
It is startling to discover that the IM has managed to make inroads into professional institutions in Rajasthan which had witnessed serial bombings in 2008.
It has happened for the first time that local youths have been involved in jihadi terrorism.
Leads from Waqas' questioning led to the arrest of Mohammad Maruf (21), a resident of Sanjay Nagar, Jhotwara in Jaipur City. Maruf is currently pursuing an engineering course at VIT, Jagatpura in Jaipur.
His interrogation was followed by the arrest of Waqas Azhar, a resident of Pratap Nagar near International Airport in Sanganer in Jaipur. He is a student of Global Institute of Technology in Sitapura in Jaipur.
Two laptops and lot of explosives and devices were recovered from them. They are resident of Pali and Gangapur City in Swai Madhopur and were staying in Jaipur as tenants.
Two arrests and more explosives in Jodhpur
Interrogation of the engineering students led the cops to Mohammad Shaquib Ansari alias Khalid living in Barkutallah Nagar in Jodhpur.
Jaipur's Maruf has been in consant touch with Shaquib from whom 70 kilograms of explosives and other devices similar to those recovered in Jaipur were found in his possession.
He said he had procured the explosives from Barkat-ul-Liaqat, a resident of Shantipriya Nagar in Jodhpur's Pratap Nagar area. He escaped before his arrest after being alerted about raid on Shaquib by one Adil Khan, who too has been arrested.
"Major terror strike prevented"
Alok Tripathi, ATS chief of Rajasthan Police told India Today : "Yes, we have prevented some big terror strikes in Rajasthan but we have been working on more modules in the state."
"The five arrested have been taken to Delhi after obtaining their transit remand but will be brought back to Rajasthan for cases registered after recovery of explosives and for planning terror attacks in Rajasthan,'" Tripathi said.
Past terror strikes in Jaipur
Jaipur has been a target of jihadi, Kashmiri and Punjabi terrorists in the past.
In May 2008, serial bombings, mostly near roadside temples in the Pink City killed more than 70 and injured 170.
In 1996, Pakistani national Abdul Mateen and Abdul Hamid of Firozabad, and Rais Beg of planned bomb attacks on Republic Day.
A bomb went off little before the function at the S M S Stadium injuring a PWD worker. Another bomb was found buried there after some years.
Daya Singh Lahoriya, chief of Khalistan Liberation Force kidnapped Rajendra Mirdha, son of late Ram Niwas Mirdha, former union minister and Congress leader in Jaipur in 1995. He was arrested in US and extradited to get life term in 2004.
In 1993, Abdul Karim Tunda, arrested in 2013, carried out tiffin box blasts in Jaipur.