Cops arrest man plotting 9/11-type attack in UP

Shahzad Ahmad, the Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorist arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh district on Monday, was planning a 9/11-type attack with a small chartered aircraft.

The Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) of the UP police said Shahzad alias Pappu had targeted an educational institution in the state for the aerial attack. The assault was scheduled for May, when the place is normally crowded with students attending counselling sessions.

Shahzad, 21, had learnt flying at a private aviation academy in Bangalore for the purpose. Sources, however, said his aerial terror module could be aiming at more sensitive targets like the disputed Ayodhya structure, the Taj or the Narora atomic plant in west UP. The ATS is probing Shahzad’s links with Pakistani-born American terrorist David Coleman Headley. The National Investigation Agency had shared inputs on these lines with the state  agencies.

“Shahzad was wanted in connection with the September 2008 Delhi serial blasts. He is also an accused in the killing of Delhi police inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, who was killed during the Batla House encounter,’’ ADG Brij Lal told reporters.