Delhi police arrests Indian Mujahideen terrorist Abdul Qureshi; mastermind of 2008 Gujarat serial blasts

New Delhi, January 22: Dark shadows of terrorism cannot last for a long time. This quote suits best for Abdul Subhan Qureshi, who was involved in 2008 Gujarat serial blasts has been finally arrested by Delhi police in Ghazipur area on Monday.

 

Notably, just ahead of the Republic Day, the special cell of the Delhi Police in a major breakthrough arrested Abdul Subhan Qureshi alias Tauqeer who belonged to SIMI-Indian Mujahideen and was involved in the 2008 serial blasts which took place in Gujarat. The special cell of Delhi Police arrested Abdul Qureshi following a brief exchange of gunfight.

Abdul Qureshi alias Tauqeer was also among the most wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). However, he has been sent to 14-days police remand. After getting a specific input, a special cell of Delhi Police launched the operation and arrested 2008 Gujarat serial blast mastermind while he was going to meet his aide in Delhi's Ghazipur area.

Pramod Kushwaha, DCP Special Cell, while talking to media said, "We have arrested India's most wanted terrorist Abdul Subhan Qureshi, who is also the founder of Indian Mujahideen. He was again trying to revive Indian Mujahideen," DCP Kushwaha added.

DCP Kushwaha further stated that Qureshi as living in Nepal with forged documents. “Qureshi, a close aide of Bhatkals, was in Saudi Arabia from 2015 to 2017, allegedly to raise funds for the terror outfit,” the DCP added.

Qureshi who hails from Maharashtra is a suspected bomb maker and has often been termed as India's Bin Laden. He is also suspected to have been responsible for participating in the Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Delhi bombings.

A Red Corner Notice had also been issued against Qureshi by Interpol, besides an arrest warrant by a court in Gujarat for his alleged involvement in Ahmedabad blasts case of 2008. Qureshi is also accused of being originally a commander of the banned terror outfit Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), who later with the help of other terrorists launched the Indian Mujahideen.

The 2008 Ahmedabad bombings were a series of 21 bomb blasts that hit Ahmedabad, on 26 July 2008, within a span of 70 minutes. 56 people were killed and over 200 people were injured. Many of the blasts targeted the city bus service of AMTS (Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service), ripping apart portions of the vehicles.

Two blasts took place inside the premises of two hospitals, about 40 minutes after the initial series of blasts. One of the blasts in the hospitals occurred when injured victims of the initial series of blasts were being admitted there. Another bomb was found and defused on the following day in the Hatkeshwar area. Two live bombs were also retrieved from Maninagar, the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's constituency.

Gujarat police recovered and defused two more bombs in Surat, another major city in Gujarat, a day after the Ahmedabad blasts. Two cars filled with materials required to make explosives, including detonators, were also found, one of them parked on a roadside near a hospital and the other in the outskirts of Surat.