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Top Lashkar-e-Toiba leader killed in Jammu, 3 Harkat men arrested in Delhi

A top leader of the Afghan militant outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba, who doubled as an Inter Service Intelligence agent, has been killed in an encounter with the Jammu and Kashmir police's special task force at Surankot in Poonch district.

Wasim Akram, originally from Lahore and infamous as Moin Ahmad, was head of Lashkar-e-Toiba's North Indian operations.

Inspector-General of Police (Jammu zone) Kuldeep Khuda said the militant was killed while trying to cross over to Pakistan a few days ago. An unidentified militant was killed and another, Abu Talha, injured in the same incident.

Talha, along with another, Azam Gouri, also of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, is wanted for bomb blasts and other subversive activities in South India, Khuda said. Both are Pakistani nationals.

A huge quantity of arms and ammunition, including AK-make rifles, pistols, hand grenades, incriminating documents and Indian currency were seized from the militants.

Meanwhile in Delhi, the police arrested three militants of the ISI-backed Harkat-ul-Ansar. Four kilogrammes of explosives, half of it RDX, were recovered from them.

The militants were planning to strike in and around the capital, Additional Commissioner of Police (crime) B K Gupta said.

With this, the total number of militants arrested in the city since February has gone up to 34.

Acting on a tip-off, the inter-state cell of the crime branch laid a trap near the Nizamuddin flyover on Thursday and arrested Abdul Gafoor, 20, a resident of Kupwara in Kashmir, and Suhail of Muzaffarnagar.

The militants had come there to hand over the explosives to another group, which did not turn up.

Following their interrogation, a raid was conducted in Zaffarabad area in Seelampur, and another militant, Tasleem, allegedly involved in the 1996 bus blast in Modi Nagar that killed 16, was apprehended.

Police said the militants are also believed to be involved in the June 27 blast in South Delhi's Kailash Colony.

Suhail, according to the police, was appointed the Uttar Pradesh chief of the Harkat-ul-Ansar. The UP police had arrested him earlier for planning to abduct the son of Samajawadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav.

The three were produced at the Patiala House courts on Friday.

Gupta said all the militants had been trained in Pakistan.

In another incident, the police nabbed three gangsters from UP, allegedly involved in 26 cases of dacoity, robbery, murder, criminal intimidation and attempt to murder, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North West) Satyendra Garg said.

The arrested are Zahid alias Kanfad, Mazid, and Sartaj. Two country-made revolvers and some cartridges were recovered from them.

UNI

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