How engineering aspirant transformed into ‘ terrorist’ IM man confessed to role in other blast cases: NIA
TERROR CONNECT Ariz joined jihadist ranks after getting in touch with future IM militants, say officials
NEWDELHI: The son of a journalist, he wanted to become an engineer, but his friendship with another Azamgarh man led him on the path of jihad, suspected Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative Ariz Khan alias Junaid has told federal counter-terror investigators.
Ariz’s father Zafare Alam Khan worked with a news periodical and his mother was a school teacher. Ariz studied at schools in his native place Azamgarh.
In 2001, Ariz tried for admission in Aligarh Muslim University, but could not clear the entrance exam. “He met Atif Ameen, also from Azamgarh, for the first time in Aligarh where Ameen too had come to take the entrance exam. They came back and took admission in school for 11th standard and started meeting regularly when Atif and he started staying in the same locality,” said a home ministry official familiar with the details of Ariz’s interrogation by the NIA .
There he came in touch with other associates of Ameen, like Arif Badar and others who later formed the Azamgarh module of the IM, according to NIA officials. “Badar used to speak about demolition of Babri Masjid to others and also told them that India should have Sharia laws. They used to listen to speeches of Maulana Masood Azhar, founder of Jaish-e-mohammed,” said the official cited above.
Officials say after securing a low rank in engineering entrance, Ariz didn’t join the course and went to live with his brother in Muzaffarnagar.
“Atif then told him he had gone to Pakistan for training in (handling) arms. Ariz finally left studies in 2008 but before that he had become a fellow-traveller of Atif Ameen,” added the official. NEW DELHI: Alleged Indian Mujahideen operative Ariz Khan alias Junaid has confessed to his involvement in a series of bombings that took place between 2005 and 2008, according to home ministry officials familiar with the details of his interrogation by counter-terrorism officials.
Ariz, 32, was arrested by Delhi police in February from near the Indo-nepal border after he was picked up from the Himalayan country. Two months later, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) too took him into custody in connection with a case registered by it. “Investigation in this case (registered by NIA) has revealed that accused Ariz Khan alias Junaid was involved in the serial blast at Delhi in the year 2005, serial blast at Varanasi in the year 2006, Uttar Pradesh Court blast in the year 2007, serial blast at Jaipur in the year 2008, serial blast at Ahmedabad in the year 2008 and serial blast at Delhi in the year 2008,”an NIA statement released on April 18 said.
NIA officials say Ariz, during his interrogation, confessed to his involvement in all these blasts.
In the 2005 Diwali-eve serial blasts, the Delhi police blamed Lashkar-e-taiba operatives, but last year a court acquitted three of the accused who were tried in the case. “Ariz Khan has also told interrogators that he planted one of the improvised explosive devices (IEDS) at Varanasi on March 7, 2006. Three IEDS were planted in the holy city and Ariz planted the one that exploded at the cantonment railway station,” said a home ministry official familiar with details of his interrogation, on condition of anonymity.
But the UP police charged Walliullah, an Imam from Phulpur, for sheltering a group of terrorists that had come from Bangladesh. Walliullah’s trial is still on in a Ghaziabad court.