2 Delhi blasts suspects shot dead

NEW DELHI: Barely a week after serial blasts rocked the national capital leaving 24 dead, the narrow bylanes of south Delhi’s Jamia Nagar locality were caught in terror crosshairs on Friday as the police shot dead two alleged Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorists but lost one its most decorated officers in the raid.

The police claimed to have killed Atif alias Bashir of Azamgarh (Uttar Pradesh), a “key player” of the IM which has claimed responsibility for all recent serial blasts, along with his associate Sajid. Two others, the police said, managed to escape. Another alleged terrorist, Saif, was, however, arrested even as two policemen, Mohan Chand Sharma, an inspector with the Delhi Police Special Cell, and head constable Balwant suffered bullet injuries. Sharma, a President’s Gallantry Medal winner who led the raid, later succumbed to his injures.

Delhi police commissioner YS Dadwal told mediapersons that Atif was the “main planner and bomb maker” of the serial blasts in Delhi, Ahmedabad and Jaipur.
The encounter took place around 11 am and continued for at least 40 minutes in the predominantly Muslim locality amid voices of protest.

Local residents said it was impossible for two of the alleged terrorists to escape from the third-floor apartment with only one entry-exit point. It’s the fourth encounter Jamia Nagar has seen in as many years.  

Dadwal said they had received specific inputs that “key leaders of the Indian Mujahideen who had organised the bomb blasts not only in Delhi but also in other places were hiding in Batla House (in Jamia Nagar).”

The commissioner said the terrorists opened fire on the police party that reached the spot, injuring inspector Sharma and head constable Balwant.

The police retaliated and gunned down Atif and Sajid, who also belongs to Azamgarh, while Saif was arrested. Two others escaped, he said.

Dadwal claimed Atif had played a key role in all the serial blasts across India in recent times. “While Tauqeer (the Mumbai techie Abdus Subhan Qureshi), who is still at large, is a key link to terror strikes, Atif was the key player in the Indian Mujahideen. He played an active role in carrying out blasts in Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Delhi,” said a senior officer of the special cell which carried out the operation.

“Atif had gone to Ahmedabad on July 24 along with alleged mastermind of the Gujarat blasts Mufti Abdul Bashar, and returned to Delhi three days later on July 27 with 12 accomplices. According to our information, these men were involved in providing logistical help in the July 26 Ahmedabad blasts,” Dadwal said. He claimed that the entire operation was based on their own and Intelligence Bureau leads and had nothing to do with the inputs from Bashar, who was brought to Delhi on Thursday.

But local residents don’t buy the police theory. A college professor who lives on the back lane of the suspected hideout told DNA that he was particularly sure that he heard gun shots only from a single pistol. And there were no automatic rifle fire.

Dadwal said the police recovered an AK-47 and a pistol from the terrorists, and that his force fired 22 rounds against the eight rounds by the terrorists. There was no recovery of Ammonium Nitrate or other items used for making recent bombs.

Angry residents came out shouting slogans against the police and alleging that the encounter was stage-managed. They said the police had moved in large numbers into the area starting 3 am. They alleged that the police had killed innocent people and falsely implicated them in the serial blasts cases.