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Wednesday, Sep 24, 2008
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Raids in Azamgarh for terror suspects

Special Correspondent

Bank accounts checked, 6 persons questioned

LUCKNOW: Simultaneous raids were conducted by a 22-member Delhi police team in the Kotwali police station area and Sarjanpur village in Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh in the early hours of Tuesday to flush out Shadab Bhai and Asadullah, alleged to have been involved in the September 13 blasts in the Capital.

The raids were conducted on the basis of evidence provided by an alleged terrorist, Saqib, who was held at Jamia Nagar in South Delhi on Sunday in connection with the Uttar Pradesh blasts.

Additional Director-General (Law and Order and STF), Brij Lal, told newsmen here that the raids yielded nothing.

The Delhi police had contacted the SSP of Azamgarh, R.K. Sharma, before the raids, Mr. Lal said.

About half a dozen terrorists were holed up in and around Azamgarh, the U.P. police officer said.

During the investigation, the bank accounts of Shadab Bhai and Mohammad Saif, who was arrested by the Delhi police after last week’s shootout at Jamia Nagar, were checked by the Delhi police team, the U.P. Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and the Azamgarh police.

Mr. Lal said about Rs.32,000 was found in the account of Shadab Bhai. While money was deposited in Azamgarh, since May 2007 money had been withdrawn from the State Bank of India ATM in Delhi, although the transaction was not heavy ranging from Rs.10,000 to Rs.15,000, the ADG said.

The Delhi police also questioned six persons, all of whom belonged to Azamgarh. They were later let off, Mr. Lal said.

The persons questioned were Javed Akhtar, a medical practitioner, his son Abdullah Akhtar, Saifullah Akhtar, Azeem Ahmed, Fakhre Alam, who is also a doctor, and Arslaan Khan.

Raids were reported to have been conducted in the Khadra locality of Lucknow by the ATS late on Monday night to arrest three youths said to be from Azamgarh. They were not found, though the house owner, reports said, was detained by the police. These raids were not confirmed by the ADG (Law and Order).

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