Weapons recovered

Madhyapradeshatssppranaynagvanshisaid the module was formed a year ago by Atif Muzaffar alias Al Kasim — one of the three arrested in Pipariya — and was named ISIS Khorasan. He said the group tested a timerbomb in an open field in Kanpur in Augustseptember last year.

Updgpjaveedahmadtoosaidatifwasthe headofthegroup.theupats,whichshotdead Saifullah, said he had rented the house in Haji Colonyandwasstayingtherewithatif,danish Akhtar alias Jaffar and Syed Mir Hussain alias Humza who were held in Pipariya. The house belongs to Badshah Khan of Malihabad who works in Dubai.

In Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said: “We have proof that the explosion was carried out by Isis-inspired operatives.’’ He said the men shared a photograph of the bag, containing the pipe bombandkeptontheluggagerackofthetrain, withahandlerinsyria.chouhansaidthethree men reached Bhopal Tuesday morning from Lucknowbythepushpakexpressandboarded a Pipariya-bound bus after planting the IED in the Bhopal-ujjain Express. From Pipariya, they had planned to head back to Lucknow via Jabalpur and Allahabad.

During a search of the house in Lucknow, police found eight country-made pistols, four knives, 632 live cartridges, 71 empty shells, 45 gmgold,threemobilephones,bankpassbook, ATM card, PAN card in the name of Atif Muzaffar, four SIM cards, a motorcycle, two miniwalkie-talkiesets,abottlefilledwithiron balls, two bottles of gunpowder, passports belonging to Atif, Danish and Saifullah, handwritten literature, Rs 1.5 lakh cash, some Riyal and a black cloth banner similar to an ISIS flag.

Chaudhary said the ATS tried to capture Saifullahaliveandmadeseveralattempts.they even made his brother Khalid speak to him on thephonebytakingitclosetotheroomwhere he was holed up. But he did not respond.

The ATS later drilled a hole in the roof and threwchillibombstoforcehimout.chaudhary said Saifullah opened fire. Around 3 am Wednesday, the ATS shot him dead.

PTI adds: SP (Kanpur City) Somen Verma said Saifullah’s family was contacted but they refused to take the body. He said a team of UP ATS left from Kanpur for Lucknow with two other suspects around 3 am for further questioning.

On Tuesday, police arrested Mohammed Faisal Khan from Jajmau and his brother Mohammed Imran from a leather factory in Unnao. Fakre Alam alias Rishu of Etawah was the third person arrested. Police had also apprehended one Shakeel alias Ajgar from the Rehmani market in Kanpur but he escaped after the shopkeepers there started protesting.