Having served out their prison terms, they were set to be deported to Pakistan.
Three Pakistani terror convicts who had carried out blasts near Red Fort in 2000 managed to escape from the custody of Foreigners Regional Registration Office, a wing of Intelligence Bureau. They were being escorted following an eye check-up at Guru Nanak Eye Centre in central Delhi.
The convicts managed to give cops the slip while dining at a hotel. Shockingly, they were being accompanied by a lone sub-inspector, which has raised questions over security agencies’ approach in dealing with terror convicts.
The convicts had served their prison term and were to be deported back to Pakistan soon. “They had served their prison term here and were in the custody of FRRO. We have registered a fresh case of escape against them now,” said a senior Delhi Police officer.
Senior police officials said the trio — Abdul Razzak, Mohammed Sadiq and Rafaqat Ali — had served jail term for triggering blasts near the Red Fort in 2000.
An FRRO official when asked about the development said, “They were to be deported back to Pakistan and had been taken for a routine check up to Guru Nanak Eye centre.”
Investigations so far have revealed that after the medical check up the convicts, along with the police escort, proceeded to a cycle market near Kotwali police station for lunch. That is where they gave the escort a slip.
The trio was arrested by the Delhi Police along with five other Pakistani terrorists in 2000 for carrying out blasts near Red Fort. Crime Branch which had arrested the three had also recovered 17 kilograms of RDX and 50 kilograms of heroin from their custody. Investigators had also claimed that the trio had also planned to blow up a railway line.
The police escort, a sub-inspector from Meghalaya, is being questioned jointly by Delhi Police and Intelligence Bureau to find out if there was any complicity from his side.
A massive manhunt has been launched by Delhi Police to trace the trio and alerts have been issued at Delhi’s border posts to ensure that the convicts do not flee the city.
“An alert is also in the process of being issued to all major entry and exit points of the country,” said a senior Delhi Police officer. The trio had been arrested in 2000 with 17 kilograms of RDX and 50 kilograms of heroin. They were part of a conspiracy targeting Red Fort.
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