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NIA arrests 2 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists in Darbhanga station blast case
NIA arrested two key accused -- Imran Malik and Mohd Nasir Khan -- from Hyderabad after visiting the scene of crime and noting the key inputs from the probe.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday arrested two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists in connection to the Darbhanga railway station blast that took place earlier this month in Bihar.
NIA arrested two key accused -- Imran Malik and Mohd Nasir Khan -- from Hyderabad after visiting the scene of crime and noting the key inputs from the probe.
The preliminary probe, NIA said, has revealed a trans-national conspiracy hatched by top operatives of terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba to execute terror acts across India and cause large-scale damage to life and property.
The accused terrorists acted under the directions of Pakistan-based handlers of LeT, the investigative agency said. Khan and his brother Malik fabricated an incendiary IED and packed it in a parcel of cloth and booked the same in a long-distance train from Secunderabad to Darbhanga.
The low intensity blast at the station was aimed at causing an explosion and fire in a running passenger train resulting in huge loss of lives and property.
One of the accused, Khan had visited Pakistan in the year 2012 and had received training from handlers of LeT in fabrication of IED from locally available chemicals.
Khan and Malik were also in touch with Pakistan based handlers of LeT over encrypted communication platforms, the NIA said. The accused will now be produced before the Special NIA Court in Patna, following which a detailed examination and probe will continue.
On June 17, the parcel, booked in the name of one Mohd Sufian from Secunderabad, exploded upon arrival at Darbhanga junction. No one was injured in the low intensity blast.
In the early probe, the NIA Investigation revealed that a forged PAN card was used in booking the packet from Secunderabad station.
They said the income tax department revealed that the PAN card details were forged and the original card belonged to someone abroad. Forensic report of the empty 50 ml glass bottle retrieved from the site is still awaited.
