I had planted the bomb in Sarojini Nagar market, confesses Ariz Khan
I had planted the bomb in Sarojini Nagar market, confesses Ariz Khan
Alleged Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative Ariz Khan told federal counter-terror investigators that his outfit was behind the 2005 serial blasts in Delhi. The revelation raises fresh doubts on the investigation carried out by the city police, which has said a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) squad was behind the explosions.
On October 29, 2005, the first of the Delhi serial blasts at Tooti Chowk in Paharganj killed 17 people and injured 108 others. The second blast took place 25 minutes later in the busy Sarojini Nagar market in which 50 people died and 104 were injured. The third blast took place at Okhla, injuring 13.
“Junaid has told National Investigation Agency (NIA) interrogators that he, along with another alleged IM operative Mirza Shadab Beg, had kept the IED at Sarojini Nagar market while Atif Ameen, who was killed in the Batla House encounter in September 2008, had kept an IED in Paharganj. A third IED, in a DTC bus, was kept by two other alleged IM operatives — Mohammad Shakeel and Saquib Nisar,” said a home ministry official on condition of anonymity.
Junaid also said that the IEDs were prepared by another alleged IM member, Sadiq Israr Sheikh, at a rented flat in south Delhi’s Jasola and has given a detailed account of how he kept the IED at Sarojini Nagar market along with Shadab Beg. Junaid’s lawyer, however, denied the involvement of his client in any blast.
“There is no Indian Mujahideen and my client was not at involved with any outfit by the name of Indian Mujahideen or in any blast,” said advocate MS Khan. Junaid,32, was arrested by Delhi Police in February this year from the Indo-Nepal border after being on the run for nearly a decade.
-PTC News
