Terror accused dies in police van

Suddenly falls ill, declared brought dead at hospital

Khalid Mujahid, an accused in the 2007 serial blasts in several cities in Uttar Pradesh, died on Saturday in a police van while returning to Lucknow Jail after an appearance in the Faizabad district court.

According to police sources, Mujahid suddenly fell ill near Ram Sanehi Ghat in Barabanki district, about 50 km from here, and was rushed to the district hospital. The doctors however declared him brought dead.

Officials said the exact reason of Mujahid’s death would only be known after the post-mortem, but they suspect he died of cardiac arrest. A panel of doctors would conduct the post-mortem, officials said.

There were three other suspects in the van with Mujahid. They were taken back to the Lucknow Jail. Mujahid was one of the accused in the serial blasts at Gorakhpur, Faizabad and Lucknow in 2007. The state government had recently moved an application before the court for withdrawing cases against Khalid Mujahid and another accused Tariq Kasmi, but the court had rejected the government’s plea to drop the terror charges. The government later said that it would file an appeal against the order.
Kasmi and Mujahid were arrested from Barabanki railway station, allegedly with explosives, a few days after the blasts that had left seven people injured.