Top Harkat terrorist escapes from Guwahati hospital

GUWAHATI: A top terrorist of the Harkat-ul-Ansar fled from police custody after being admitted to a hospital for treatment as police in Assam conducted massive overnight searches.

Nurul Amin alias Sajid escaped on Monday night from the Guwahati Medical College Hospital where he was being admitted for treatment of piles.

"Amin escaped through the bathroom window. We are on the job to trace him and a probe ordered to ascertain the circumstances leading to the prisoner's escape," said Guwahati city police chief Nitul Gogoi.

A police constable deputed to be with Amin round-the-clock was suspended for dereliction of duty.

Amin was arrested in Nalbari in 1999 and was in the Tihar Jail in New Delhi until recently before he was brought back to the Guwahati Central Jail.

"Amin was involved in the kidnapping of three British and an American national in 1994 to bargain the release of 10 terrorists from jail. The four abducted people were later rescued by police," said Khagen Sharma, Assam police intelligence chief. 

Police said Amin was in Assam in 1999 with a plan to blow up the well-known Kamakhya temple in Guwahati.

Amin is also believed to be linked to various religious fundamentalist groups active in Assam and other parts of India.