Plan to kill
Advani
Suicide
squads leader held
COIMBATORE, Oct 14 (UNI)
Close on the heels of the arrest of seven key
militants at Rajahmundry last week, the Tamil Nadu crime
branch (CID) police today nabbed Amanullah Khan, head of
the seven-member suicide squad assigned to eliminate
Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani, now Union Home
Minister, during his visit here to address an election
meeting on February 14.
Amanullah, arrested near
Erode in the early morning, was the "amir"
(head) of the suicide squad which had set out, with
"belt and throw-type" bombs, from the burial
site of 18 persons killed in communal riots last year.
He was armed with a
"belt bomb" meant to blow up the dais from
which Mr Advani was to address a meeting at R.S. Puram
here.
Amanullah could not
penetrate the security cordon to reach the dais, and the
meeting itself was cancelled following the serial blasts
which rocked the city minutes before Mr Advani was to
address the meeting. Over sixty persons were killed in
the blasts and more than 250 injured.
Amanullah was the lone
member of the suicide squad who had managed to evade the
police dragnet. Four members were arrested by the police
while two were killed in the blasts. The Tamil Nadu
government had announced a reward of Rs two lakh for
anyone giving information leading to his arrest.
With todays arrest,
the total number of militants arrested for involvement in
the blasts rose to 177. Only 10 more militants are yet to
be nabbed.
The meeting was cancelled
in the wake of the blasts minutes before Mr Advani was to
address the gathering.
PTI adds: Seven key
suspects arrested in Andhra Pradesh in connection with
the February 14 Coimbatore bomb blasts were today taken
into CB-CID custody for 10 days.
The suspects nabbed at
Rajahmundry on Sunday were brought to Coimbatore from
Chennai and produced before the fifth judicial magistrate
court this morning, who ordered them to 10 days CB-CID
custody for interrogation.
They are banned
fundamentalist outfit Al-Ummas general secretary
Mohammed Ansari, Siddiq Ali (son of Al-Ummas leader
S.A. Basha), Nawab Khan (Bashas brother), Mohammed
Zubair (Bashas brother-in-law), and Yusuf, and Syed
Mohammed Buhari and Hidayat Ali Khan.
The accused raised slogans
demanding a ban on the RSS and VHP and the release of
Basha. The area surrounding the court was cordoned off
before the accused were brought to the court under tight
security.
Meanwhile, the police have
spread the dragnet for seven suspects still at large.
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