M A I N   N E W S

One more held for links with Tariq

Srinagar, December 18
The Jammu and Kashmir police has arrested a person suspected to have links with Tariq, the main conspirator and conduit between the Jaish-i-Mohammad chief in India and the militants who planned the December 13 attack on Parliament, leaving 14 persons dead.

Inspector-General of Police K. Rajinder Kumar said here this morning that the suspect, Tanveer, was picked up here by the police following a tip-off.

He is being interrogated by the police and other agencies. The IGP said: “We cannot conclude that he was among the conspirators. We are trying to get everything from Tanveer.’’

The state police and other security forces had mobilised all their resources to nab Tariq, who was the prime link between Jaish chief Gazi Baba and the terrorists involved in planning and executing Thursday’s assault on the Parliament House complex.

Tariq arranged meetings between Gazi, Afzal and others who helped terrorists to attack Parliament.

Meanwhile, the headquarters of the Hurriyat Conference here was jointly raided by personnel of the Special Operations Group (SOG) and the Army last night and office records and furniture were “ransacked”, a Hurriyat spokesman alleged today.

Personnel of the SOG and troops of Rashtriya Rifles came to the Hurriyat headquarters at Rajbagh around 10 pm last night and “beat up” the watchman before ransacking the records of the relief cell and damaging furniture, the spokesman, Sheikh Abdul Rahid, said here. No objectionable material was, however, found, he claimed.

When contacted, the police denied any knowledge about the raid on the headquarters. UNI

House attack: ultra records statement

Abdul Razzak, father of Mohammad Afroze Abdul Razzak, gestures in despair after being not allowed into the courtroom during the hearing of a case against his son in Mumbai on Tuesday.  — Reuters photo

Mumbai, December 18
A local court today recorded in-camera what appeared to be an “explosive” confession by alleged Al Qaida terrorist Mohammad Afroze Abdul Razzak, who has disclosed to the Mumbai police that he knew about a series of attacks planned in India, the UK and Australia after the September 11 assaults in the USA.

Afroze might have revealed some “explosive information” before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate V.P. Taware as he recorded his confession over a span of about four hours, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said today.

Afroze, who was arrested at Navi Mumbai on October 2 in connection with a robbery and spilled the beans during interrogation about being privy to attacks planned on Parliament, the House of Commons and Rolta Towers, Sydney, was today further remanded to judicial custody till January 1.

Police investigators from the UK and Australia are here to gather more information about the accused.

“A logical inference that he had revealed explosive information to the court could be arrived at from the fact that he made a statement between 11.30 am and 3.15 pm before the Magistrate,” Mr Nikam told reporters this evening at Esplanade Metropolitan Court in south Mumbai.

“However, I do not have any details of the statement as it was in-camera following a request made by me to the Magistrate this morning,” he said. The Mumbai police will proceed as per law, he added responding to a query about further action to be taken in the case.

Fielding a barrage of queries from reporters, Mr Nikam said he would himself have to make an application before the Magistrate to obtain a copy of the confession.

Describing the statement as important, the Special Public Prosecutor noted that information provided by Afroze would help the Mumbai police make headway in investigations.

Besides the Magistrate, the court clerk and typist were among those present when Afroze made his statement. The investigating officer and Mr Nikam himself were not permitted inside the court. UNI

2 held for selling explosives, POTO
invoked against 3
Tribune News Service and UNI

New Delhi, December 18
The Delhi police today detained two shopkeepers from the Khari Baoli area of the walled city who had allegedly sold explosive ingredients to the perpetrators of the December 13 terrorist attack on the Parliament House.

The duo, whose names have not been revealed by the investigators so far, were traced on the basis of leads provided by the main conspirator Mohammed Afzal and his accomplice Shaukat Hussain.

The shopkeepers had sold aluminium powder and ammonium nitrate to the suspects after Delhi University lecturer Sayed Abdul Rehman Gilani showed them a laboratory paper.

The police also seized seven floppies from an unspecified area which could contain vital information about the strategy and conspiracy for the sensational attack.

Meanwhile, the three key suspects in the December 13 attacks on Parliament — Mohammad Afzal, Shaukat Hussain and Abdul Rehman Gilani — have been booked under (POTO).

All three were earlier booked under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code and are in police custody for further interrogations.

Commenting on the progress of the ensuing investigations, Delhi Police Commissioner Ajay Raj Sharma said this was highly-sensitive investigation and lot many things were likely to come out at the end of this task.

He said their interrogation was in progress. “We have strong evidence that all slain militants were Pakistani residents, and we have even traced their homes in Pakistan,” he added.

Investigation on the seized laptop was still going on and police officials, with the help of some computer experts were trying to find out the secret code.

It is believed that the laptop contains vital information regarding the terrorists and their network as they were in constant touch through e-mail.

The bodies of the militants, after a post-mortem examination last night, were buried today. DCP special cell Ashok Chand said one of the militants needed to be identified. “The matter has been referred to the CBI, and they will take care of the identification exercise”, he added.

He said, two persons from Ambassador Hotel who were detained by the special cell for interrogation had been freed as they had no links with the terrorist group.

Another victim of Parliament attack dead
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 18
The death toll of security personnel in the December 13 terrorist attack on Parliament has risen to nine with another security guard succumbing to his injuries in Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital today.

The deceased, Bijender Singh, was a driver in the Vice-President’s security. The police believes that he was the first person whom the militants shot at as he stood near the Vice-President’s car from where the firing started. His body was handed over to his family.

The body of Bijender Singh, who was a Head Constable was kept in a wooden coffin which was wrapped in a flag of the Delhi police.