Ahmed remanded to 8-day police custody

NEW DELHI: Indian Mujahideen jihadi Salman Ahmed, who can help the investigators piece together ISI-LeT’s sinister “Karachi project” jigsaw, was on Monday remanded to eight-day police custody.

The investigators claim that he has already provided some details of the LeT’s plans to launch fresh attacks on Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

Ahmed, who was arrested on Saturday by the ATS of UP Police from Siddarth Nagar, was brought to the Capital by a Special Cell team. The 21-year-old terrorist, who is an accused in the 2008 Delhi serial blasts, was produced before Duty Magistrate Ajay Garg who sent him to police custody till March 15.

Police claimed they have recovered a Nepali passport obtained under a fake name and an international SIM card from Salman’s possession. After his name cropped up in the blast cases, police claimed, he moved to Nepal, where he allegedly got the passport issued in June 2009.

With the help of the passport, which was issued in the name of Mohd Fahad Ansari, the IM operative travelled to Pakistan and other countries.

Salman Ahmed is believed to have gone to Pakistan in December last year and returned to Nepal in January last. Ahmed was allegedly involved in the 2007 Gorakhpur serial blasts, Varanasi court blasts and Ahmedabad serial blasts in 2008, besides the Delhi terror strike.

Salman Ahmed alias Chotu, who carried a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his head, hails from Sanjarpur in Azamgarh. Congress leader Digvijay Singh had recently alleged that police was harassing the youth of Sanjarpur.

According to police, Ahmed is an expert in carrying out blasts. He is also alleged to have received training in handling weapons and explosives during his stay in Pakistan.

During his interrogation, police claimed, Ahmed admitted he was an active member of the Indian Mujahideen and was in regular touch with other members of the organisation. He also admitted to his involvement in several blasts in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Delhi and Rajasthan.

A team of ATS-Rajasthan will also interrogate Ahmed in connection with the May 2008 Jaipur serial bomb blasts that left 70 people dead and 186 others injured.