Irfan Ahmed alias Papu had been on the run from Indian authorities for 15 years living in Nepal as a businessman dealing in jackets and also opened a cyber café which was to act as the communication hub for the Tanzeem, the special cell said on Monday.
The head of Indian Mujahideen's Nepal branch was arrested by special cell of Delhi Police three weeks after he had allegedly run away from a prison in Nepal after its walls were shattered in the devastating earthquake that ravaged the country on April 25, paving way for the IM operative to escape without resistance.
Irfan Ahmed alias Papu had been on the run from Indian authorities for 15 years living in Nepal as a businessman dealing in jackets and also opened a cyber café which was to act as the communication hub for the Tanzeem, the special cell said on Monday.
He was lodged in Sindhupal Chowk Jail in Nepal since 2010 after local police had arrested him on charges of acquiring Nepali citizenship by producing forged documents. The Special Cell claimed that Ahmed after being caught did not reveal his true identity and it was only after an informer reported to the cell that Ahmed would be travelling to Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh on May 7 to visit his family that he was arrested.
Ahmed's arrest is not the first time when luck has fallen short for the 50-year-old who in 2006 barely managed to escape a mob in Samastipur village of Bihar that lynched two of his associates who, according to the police, were Pakistani militants. Ahmed and his associates had attempted to abduct a brick kiln owner on a motor-cycle which could not bear the weight of the abductors and the abducted. As a result the bike fell and villagers came to the rescue of the brick kiln owner.
Much before his narrow escape in Bihar, Ahmed was for the first time involved in violent acts against the state in the year 1993 when he allegedly planted bombs in two Rajdhani trains, (Delhi – Howrah and Howrah – Delhi), which were passing through Kanpur Railway Station. The bombs were planted in December 5 and 6 in 1993 a year after the Babri mosque demolition. According to investigation officers, Ahmed was drawn towards committing violent acts as he wanted to take revenge for the Babri Masjid demolition.
However on January 17, 1994, he was arrested by the special cell and was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The CBI subsequently arrested 15 other associates of Ahmed.
In 1999 Ahmad was convicted in the case registered against him by the Special Cell and taken to Ajmer where the trial of the CBI cases was pending . In 2001, Ahmed got parole for four days to attend his brother's marriage in Behraich. It was then when he jumped the parole went to directly to Kolkata and had been the run. His 15 associates who faced trial before the CBI court were convicted under TADA and sentenced for life imprisonment.
"During the time Irfan Ahmed was in Tihar, he met Aasif Reza the founder of IM and Mushtaq Zargar (Released in Kandhahar, Afghanistan by the Government of India during the Air India hijacking incident). It was Aasif Reza who proposed to Ahmed the formation of a new Tanzeem (group) called IM.
"Reza who was killed in an encounter in Gujarat, before his death had introduced Ahmed to his brother and now co-chief of IM Amir Reza in Kolkata and it was decided that Ahmed will head the Nepal branch of the group. His duty was to indoctrinate Indian youth in Nepal to travel to Pakistan for arms training. He also was the main liaison for terrorists from Lashker-e-Toiba often providing them with a place to stay and information on the routes," said S N Srivastava, Special Commissioner of Police Special Cell.
He also said that Ahmed, whose family include his wife and three children (two boys and a girl), had mentored his elder son, Mohamad Issa to follow his foot steps.
A team of Special Cell in 2006 successfully apprehended Issa and a total of 2 Kgs explosive material along with 5 electric detonators were recovered from him but his father remained absconding. Interestingly Issa was later acquitted by a city and cleared of all charges. "He (Issa) is not wanted by any agency so we are not watching him. it was his father whom were after and his arrest can lead to further disclosure on information related to IM and LeT," Srivastava added.
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