IM operative arrested in UP

An Indian Mujahideen operative, who had jumped parole in 2001, has been arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich district. After his release from Tihar Jail, Irfan Ahmad had fled to West Bengal and later, was made in-charge of the terrorist group in Nepal.

Irfan, 49, who hails from Bahraich, had first figured on the radar of security agencies as the man who planted bombs in two Rajdhani Expresses — Delhi-Howrah and Howrah-Delhi — passing through Kanpur railway station in December 1993, an year after the demolition of Babri Masjid.

Irfan was also arrested by the Nepal Police in 2010 for trying to obtain Nepal citizenship on fake documents. After trial, he was sentenced to five years in jail, but his real identity was not unearthed by the Nepal authorities.

“Irfan was lodged in Sindhupalchok Jail in Nepal. His sentence was to end in July 2015, but the recent earthquake gave him another chance to escape when the jail walls collapsed,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav.

Irfan returned to Bahraich to avoid arrest by the Nepal Police, but was apprehended by the Delhi Police on May 7. Irfan was initially arrested by the Delhi Police in Janaury 1994 and was handed over to the CBI, which was investigating the train serial bombings.

Irfan was convicted in 1999 in the case registered by the Delhi Police, while the trial of the CBI cases was pending. In 2001, Irfan got parole to attend his brother’s marriage in Bahraich. He fled on being released.

While Irfan was lodged in Tihar Jail, he had become a close friend of Aasif Reza Khan, who was imprisoned in another TADA case.