Indian Mujahideen Terrorist Flees Nepal Jail after Earthquake, Arrested From Uttar Pradesh

NEW DELHI:  The Delhi Police claims to have arrested a convicted terrorist who escaped a jail in Nepal that had collapsed in the recent earthquake. Irfan Ahmad carried a reward of Rs. 50,000 on his head in India. He was arrested on May 7 from Bahraich in Uttar Pradesh, where he once lived.

Irfan Ahmad’s career in terror started 23 years ago, during the widespread violence that had followed the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1993, said Special Police Commissioner SN Srivastava.

He along with around 15 others, took part in the riots and blasts in various parts of Uttar Pradesh, and even planted bombs in two Rajdhani Express trains.

He was arrested in 1994 and handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation, which was in charge of those terror cases. Following a trial, he was convicted, the officer said.

While in Tihar Jail as an undertrial, Irfan Ahmad had established contact with some of the key members of Indian Mujahideen, the police said. They included Asif

Reza Khan, who was allegedly instrumental in the abduction of Kolkata’s industrialist Partho Burman.

Later, when he got parole in 2001, he managed to escape with the help of the terror group.

The Indian Mujahideen sent him to Kathmandu to set up a transit point for terrorists with the help of Lashkar-Taiba and Pakistan’s spy network Inter-Services Intelligence. He became the head of the organisation in Nepal.