Two suspected terrorists, wanted by the Delhi police in connection with their alleged involvement with the Batla House case, were understood to have found a safe haven in Uttar Pradesh.
Identified as Ariz Khan alias Junaid and Asadullah Akhtar alias Asadullah Khan, the two were closely linked with the Indian Mujahideen and have been on the run for the past three and a half years since the Batla House encounter. While Junaid carries a reward of Rs 5 lakhs on his head, the Delhi police had also announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh on Asadullah.
The revelation about their presence in Uttar Pradesh was made after their relatives approached Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, whose help has been sought for their intended surrender before a Delhi court where several cases against the two were pending.
Besides Batla House, Junaid was allegedly involved in the 2008 blasts in Jaipur (May 13), Ahmedabad (July 26) and Delhi (September 13), while Asadullah was a key suspect in the Batla House case alone.
Making no bones about using his contacts in Samajwadi Party to have the victims' appeals heard by the SP supremo Asadullah's father Dr Javed Akhtar told a scribe in his hometown, Azamgarh, "Both Junaid's
family and I have made a formal written appeal to Mulayam Singh Yadav
ji to save our boys who have been framed in the Batla House case."
Even as he claimed to have had no contact with his son or Junaid ever since they went underground, he said, "We have reason to believe that the Anti-Terrorism Squad has been out to gun down the boys in an encounter. The only way their innocence could be proved and they could get justice was the court of law, before which I believe they would
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