Delhi police arrests Indian Mujahideen terrorist Ariz Khan; involved in five serial blasts

New Delhi, February 14: In a major breakthrough, Delhi Police Special Cell on Wednesday arrested a most-wanted Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorist Ariz Khan alias Junaid from the Indo-Nepal border. Notably, Ariz Khan was involved in five bomb blast cases.

 

Confirming the breakthrough, Delhi Police while talking media said, “Delhi Police Special Cell has arrested a wanted Indian Mujahideen terrorist Ariz Khan alias Junaid from the Indo-Nepal border. He was involved in five bomb blast cases.”

Ariz Khan was born in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh. The 27-year old IM member had left engineering course midway that he had taken up in Muzaffarnagar and joined the cause of Jihad. Ariz alias Junaid had earlier managed to escape from the Batla House encounter that was held in the year 2008. Also, a reward of Rs 1 lakh was announced on him after he was wanted for the serial bomb blast in Delhi in September 2008.

Security forces declared a bounty of Rs 15 lakhs on Ariz Khan, the most for any Indian Mujahideen member as he was involved in all major blasts carried out by the terrorist organization. The National Investigation Agency had kept Rs 10 lakh of bounty while Delhi Police kept Rs 5 lakh. Importantly, Ariz Khan was involved in five blast cases carried out by the terrorist organization, including those in Delhi, Ahmedabad and Jaipur.

The arrest comes days after India’s most wanted terrorist, Abdul Subhan Qureshi, who was involved in 2008 Gujarat serial blasts was arrested by Delhi police in Ghazipur area. Abdul Qureshi alias Tauqeer was also among the most wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). 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.