Charges ready against IM man

The Special Cell of Delhi Police will on Thursday file a chargesheet against homegrown terror outfit Indian Mujahideen’s (IM) recruiter Salman Ahmed, who was arrested near the Indo Nepal border in March this year.

The Special Cell of Delhi Police will on Thursday file a chargesheet against homegrown terror outfit Indian Mujahideen’s (IM) recruiter Salman Ahmed, who was arrested near the Indo Nepal border in March this year.

HT Image

Ahmed, who received training in a Pakistan camp, was arrested 17 months after the serial blasts in Delhi. He has been described as a “conspirator and recruiter” in connection with the blasts.

Police said Ahmed had receed the places where the bombs were to be kept on September 13, 2008.

Ahmed had reportedly accompanied the IM mastermind Atif Ameen, who was shot in an encounter a week after the serial blasts, to select places and markets where bombs were to be kept — Barakhamba Road, Children’s Park at India Gate, Gaffar Market and Connaught place.

All these allegations would be substantiated with technical evidence gathered by the Special Cell.

Ahmed had reportedly inducted four Delhi bombers after showing them clips of the 2002 Gujarat riots and the Babri Masjid demolition, police said.

Police said Ahmed was adept at handling assault weapons such as AK-47 and assembling bombs with commonly available materials in market places — ball bearings and ammonium nitrate. The accused was arrested on March 6 by the Uttar Pradesh Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS).

“Ahmed is a key conspirator of the Delhi blasts, he was well aware about the date and time of the blasts but was not in Delhi on that day. He was involved with Atif Ameen who was killed in the Batla House encounter right from assembling the bombs to choosing the crowded marketplaces for blasts,” said a senior police officer.

Police said Ahmed assembled the bombs at his Shaheen Bagh hideout in south Delhi. Police had also recovered a fake Nepalese passport and a health card of UAE from Ahmed. Police said he went to Pakistan via Dubai where he received training in arms and ammunitions.

On September 13, 2008, the day of the Delhi blasts, Ahmed was reportedly in Lucknow at the Sikkim Manipal University campus where he had enrolled for a BCA course.