3 terror accused to be shifted to other jails

LUCKNOW: Suspected of radicalising other inmates of Lucknow district jail, three terror accused, Tariq Kazmi, Sajjad-ur-Rehman and an alleged ISI agent Adil Anjum will soon be shifted to other district jails.

The state government issued an order to this effect on Friday. The order was issued to the department of prisons and reforms by joint secretary to the state government Surya Prakash Singh. Inspector general of prisons Pramod Kumar Mishra confirmed that he had received the order on Saturday and soon the accused would be shifted. He, however, stated that the order said to shift them on administrative ground.

A senior home department official said the recommendation was made by the department of prisons and reforms on April 20 following which the directives were issued to shift the trio. He said the trio had been lodged in a high security barrack of Lucknow district jail for over one decade now. Nearly 57 other inmates were also lodged in the same high security barrack, he added.

The official said the trio was suspected of radicalising other inmates lodged in high security barrack by inciting their religious sentiments and asking to them start a religious war. He said Tariq Kazmi would be shifted to Barabanki district jail and Sajjad-ur-Rehman to Gorakhpur district jail while Adil Anjum would be lodged in Faizabad district jail.

He said the authorities of Barabanki, Gorakhpur and Faizabad districts as well prison officials had been alerted about the shifting and told to keep the accused in isolated barracks.

He said the prison authorities had been asked to shift the trio amid high security arrangements.

Adil Anjum, who hails from Multan, Pakistan, was arrested along with another Multan resident Abdul Shakoor, from Qaiserbagh area in Lucknow on December 28, 2006.

The duo had allegedly entered India to spy for ISI after receiving training in Pakistan. Police had claimed to have recovered sensitive documents related to the Army, a ration card, a PAN card and a passport made in Lucknow from their possession.

Tariq Kazmi of Azamgarh district, was arrested with another terror accused Khalid Mujahid from Barabanki railway station on December 22, 2007, for allegedly working for Bangladesh -based terror group Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) and their alleged involvement in serial blasts in Lucknow, Faizabad and Varanasi district courts on November 23, 2017.