LeT terrorist suspected of 2008 CRPF attack held at Mumbai airport

Mumbai: A suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist, allegedly involved in the 'fidayeen' attack on a CRPF camp in Uttar Pradesh in 2008, was on Tuesday arrested at the city airport shortly after he flew in there from UAE, a police official said.

Salim Mukim Khan alias Abu Amaar alias Arif, a native of Hathgaon in Fatehpur district of Uttar Pradesh, was nabbed in a joint operation by anti-terrorism squads of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh police when he arrived at the international airport from the UAE, he said.

Salim, facing lookout notice, was stopped at an immigration counter on the intervening night of July 16 and 17 and taken into custody, the official said.

His interrogation and records available with security agencies showed his alleged role in the suicide attack on a CRPF camp in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, on January 1, 2008, he said.

Eight persons, including some CRPF jawans, were killed in the terror strike.

Salim was also a financier of suspected ISI agent Aftab Ali, who was arrested in May in Faizabad by Uttar Pradesh ATS, he added.

While being abroad, he had been in contact with Aftab and gave instructions to him about terror activities and funding, the official said.

Aftab had been in constant touch with the Pakistan High Commission and had gathered information about several defence establishments in UP, he said.

Salim's name had first cropped up as terror module in 2008 during interrogation of suspected terrorists, Kausar and Sharif, who were arrested in 2008 for the attack at the CRPF camp, he said.

The duo had claimed that Salim, along with them, had received terrorist training at a camp in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, in 2007, the official said.

After the Rampur attack, a case was registered under relevant sections of the IPC, the Arms Act, the Explosive Substances Act, the Explosives Act and the Foreigner Registration Act, he said.

Initial inquiry by the Maharashtra ATS indicated that Salim was suspected to be associated with Pakistan-based terror outfit LeT, the official said.

The UP ATS will seek his custody for questioning in the Rampur attack and alleged involvement in severeal other anti-national activities under their jurisdiction, he said.

The Maharashtra ATS is extending all cooperation to its UP counterpart for Salim's interrogation, the official added.