Akshardham terror attack mastermind held after 15 yrs

Manas Dasgupta

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Ahmedabad, November 4

Abdul Rashid Ajmeri, who the police claim was the mastermind behind the terrorist attack on Akshardham Temple in Gandhinagar and was absconding for 15 years, was arrested at the Ahmedabad airport this morning.

Two Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists had mounted an attack on the temple on September 24, 2002, allegedly to avenge the killing of Muslims in communal riots in the state the same year. 

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Thirty-two persons, including 28 devotees and three commandos of the National Security Guard and a constable of the state reserve police, were killed. At least 100 others were injured in the  terror attack. Both terrorists were shot dead by NSG commandos after a 12-hour-long gunfight.

Acting on a tip-off that Ajmeri had boarded a flight at Riyadh for Ahmedabad to meet family members, the Ahmedabad crime branch stepped up vigil at the airport and nabbed him as soon as he got off the plane.