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Ayodhya attackers won many hearts in Delhi

PTI | ByIndo-Asian News Service, Lucknow
Jul 17, 2005 12:29 PM IST

Yunus and Arshad made great friends with those in their neighbourhood, UP police chief said.

Two of the five terrorists involved in the attack on the disputed Babri mosque site at Ayodhya were said to have won many hearts in the Delhi neighbourhoods where they lived for months.

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"Our investigating teams have found that Yunus and Arshad Ali, who were gunned down in a fierce battle after the attack in Ayodhya, made great friends with those in their neighbourhood," Uttar Pradesh police chief Yashpal Singh said.

"Yunus did his best to portray himself as a good Samaritan by instantly offering two to three thousand rupees to an ailing neighbour who needed immediate hospitalisation."

Paramilitary troopers gunned down the five terrorists when they made an abortive bid to storm the makeshift Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya.

Yunus and Arshad were the two terrorists who were identified by police on Friday. The identity of the three other men is yet to be ascertained. Yunus and Arshad lived in different areas near Vasant Kunj in south Delhi.

Arshad, who posed as a vegetable seller, was known to be very amicable with people in the neighbourhood.

Yunus' roommate Mehmood posed as a keen learner of English.

"Students at the private institution where he joined a three-month rapid English language learning course told our investigating team that Mehmood was always very amicable and displayed much generosity and hospitality to classmates," Singh said.

"He would easily win friends with his sweet talk and by offering to take them out for food."

Arshad purchased a Hutch mobile phone SIM card from Sultanpur on May 2, after which he spent 10-15 days in Akbarpur. Yunus and Arshad were said to have made a few trips to Faizabad and Ayodhya in June.

Police are trying to ascertain whether the terrorists had any connections in these three towns or they just walked in as visitors, as they had done in New Delhi.

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