CRPF camp fidayeen had eye on BSE

Six terrorists involved in the fidayeen attack on the CRPF camp in Rampur on January 1 have been arrested, Uttar Pradesh police said on Sunday. They said three of the militants had plans to leave for Mumbai on Monday to carry out strikes at the Bombay Stock Exchange and other places.

The arrests started on Saturday night when three militants were picked up in Rampur. Following leads from them the remaining arrests were made near Charbagh railway station in Lucknow on Sunday. A special task force arrested the militants, believed to be members of the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba.

Of the six, four were directly responsible for Rampur attack, in which seven CRPF jawans were killed. The other two had provided critical information.

DGP Vikram Singh said Sabauddin alias Abu Qasim, arrested in Lucknow, was also responsible for the attack on the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, on December 29, 2005. One scientist was killed in the attack.

ADG (crime and law and order) Brij Lal said the militants had planned major strikes in Mumbai's Churchgate area and the BSE. An army convoy that regularly passed on the Rampur-Bareilly route was also in the hitlist.

Sabauddin and Pakistanis Abu Jar and Abu Sama alias Adeel were arrested in Lucknow. Those arrested from Rampur were Pakistani Faheem Ahmad Ansari alias Abu Jarar, and Mohammad Sharif and Jang Bahadur alias Baba (both from Rampur).