2000 Red Fort attack: Lashkar militant held at Delhi airport

NEW DELHI: A 37-year-old suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant allegedly involved in the 2000 Red Fort terror attack was arrested on Wednesday evening from Delhi airport by a joint team of the Delhi Police special cell and antiterrorist squad (ATS) of Gujarat Police. Police did not produce any evidence against Bilal on Wednesday but said he was the same person they had been looking for since the day of the attack.

MM Oberoi, joint commissioner of police (special cell) Bilal Ahmad Kawa’s arrest. “He had come to Delhi from Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir by flight. We are interrogating him to verify his antecedents and probe the purpose of his Delhi visit,” said Oberoi.

Bilal is being interrogated at the Lodhi Colony special cell. Special cell officials said Bilal Ahmad was in the business of manufacturing leather jackets in Kashmir. He has told interrogators that he had been visiting Delhi every year for business purpose.

“Why he could not be arrested in the last 17 years is a matter of investigation. Though he has been denying his role in the Red Fort attack, we have enough evidence against him to prove that he was a key accused in the shoot out,” said a special cell officer associated with the probe.

Six LeT terrorists had stormed Red Fort on December 22, 2000 and opened fire killing three security personnel. The army present in the Fort had retaliated but the terrorists managed to escape. A case was registered at the Kotwali police station.