Ahmedabad--ATS Gujarat has arrested an alleged terrorist — wanted for 13 years in connection with the blasts in the Panchmahals soon after the 2002 riots — from Shahdol in Madhya Pradesh.
The accused, Mohd Irfan Mohd Ishaq Qureshi, a native of Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, was picked up by the ATS personnel from Shahdol on Sunday and brought to Ahmedabad on Monday. The Gujarat ATS came to know about Qureshi’s whereabout from its “sources” in Madhya Pradesh.
According to the investigators, Qureshi carried out the explosions at four places in the Panchmahal district, including Godhra town, to avenge the death of Muslims during the communal riots. Three people were killed and several were injured in the blasts.
The ATS officials said Qureshi, who was living in Shahdol with his family and earning a living selling mats, had masterminded all these explosions and also “assembled” and planted the bombs.
After the explosions, Irfan allegedly fled to Uttar Pradesh and a few months later moved to Madhya Pradesh. The officials said before planting the bombs, he was staying at a rented accommodation in Godhra to carry out recee.
During this period, Qureshi met one Yusuf Haji Ismail Dhiteli, who helped him rope in other accused in the case, the ATS officials said, adding, he had smuggled the explosives and other materials — wrapped in a carpet — from Mathura. The bombs were assembled in Godhra and later planted at ST bus stand in the town, inside a scooter at Mehlol village, another vehicle in Lunawada. One bomb was planted at Delol village in Kalol.
The investigators said he will soon be handed over to the Panchmahal district police.
INDIAN EXPRESS
