Quake lands ultra in cop net
The recent Nepal earthquake which killed thousands of people was a sort of boon for Indian security agencies as it landed a top Lashkar-e-Toiba and Indian Mujahiddin terrorist in their net.
Top terrorist Irfan Ahmad who was on the run for over 15 years and presently operative from Lucknow was nabbed from Behraich in Uttar Pradesh last week, ending one of the longest operation carried out in the recent past by the Special Cell of Delhi Police, Irfan had escaped from Sindhupal Chowk Jail in Nepal after the recent earthquake caused the prison walls to collapse.
“The arrest of Irfan Ahmad is a major achievement in the continuing fight against terrorism. His interrogations are likely to throw valuable light on the scope and spread of both Lashker-e-Toiba and Indian Mujahidin and are likely to expose many more sleeper modules and logistical hubs of these terrorist organizations spread across India as well as Nepal,” DCP Sanjeev Kumar Yadav told Mirror
Forty-nine-year-old Irfan Ahmad, who also went by various aliases, a resident of Nazirpura in Bahraich District of Utter Pradesh, had first appeared on the radar of Indian security agencies as the man who had planted bombs in two Rajdhani trains,passing through Kanpur railway station on 5th/6th December 1993, a year after the Babri mosque demolition.
Ahmad was initially arrested by the CBI in January 1994.
Sources in Special cell told Mirror that Irfan became close friends with Aasif Reza Khan, the brother of one of the co-chief of the Indian Mujahidin, while being lodged in Tihar jail between 1996 and 1999.
The association with Aasif Reza, later killed in a police encounter in Gujarat, proved to be the beginning of the second inning in Irfan’s terrorist life.
Through his association with Aasif, who had sowed the seeds of Indian Mujahiddin from within the confines of Tihar jail, Irfan got enmeshed in the Indian Mujhaidin that was in the beginning stages of its existence. After prison, Irfan made his way to Kolkata at the bidding of Aasif.
“In Kolkata, Aasif introduced Irfan to his brother Amir Reza Khan @ Rizwan, the current co-chief of Indian Mujahidin reportedly operating along with Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal out of Karachi, Pakistan. Being a hardened terrorist who had successfully executed bomb attacks, Irfan was an invaluable asset to Aasif Reza and Amir Reza Khan. When the time came to expand the activities of Indian Mujahidin, Irfan was asked to go to Kathmandu and get himself entrenched there as the Nepal head of Indian Mujahiddin,” sources said.
In 2007, Irfan travelled to Karachi, Pakistan to meet Amir Reza Khan to discuss the future of their Tanzeem.
During his stay in Nepal, Irfan was tasked to indoctrinate Indian youths and send them over to Pakistan for receiving training in Jihad which was being arranged there by Amir Reza Khan under the patronage of ISI. Apart from this, he was given the responsibility to receive Pakistan trained militants, who were launched by ISI.
According to the special cell officer, Irfan was arrested in 2010 by the Nepal police for attempting to obtain a new Nepalese citizenship on forged documents. After trial he was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment with his real identity still concealed even from the Nepalese authorities. He was lodged in Sindhupal Chowk Jail in Nepal and his sentence was to end in July 2015.
“But as destiny would have it, the recent earthquake gave him another chance to escape. To make a third beginning, he entered Behraich to avoid being re-arrested by Nepal police but was apprehended by the Special Cell,” said the officer.
A LONG JOURNEY
* Irfan had first appeared on the radar of Indian security agencies as the man who had planted bombs in two Rajdhani trains in 1993, a year after the Babri mosque demolition. * Initially arrested by the CBI in January 1994 * Irfan became close friends with Aasif Reza Khan, the brother of one of the co-chief of the Indian Mujahidin, while being lodged in Tihar jail between 1996 and 1999 * Irfan was asked to go to Kathmandu and get himself entrenched there as the Nepal head of Indian Mujahiddin * Irfan was arrested in 2010 by the Nepal police for attempting to obtain a new Nepalese citizenship on forged documents * After trial he was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment with his real identity still concealed even from the Nepalese authorities. He was lodged in Sindhupal Chowk Jail in Nepal and his sentence was to end in July 2015
