Srinagar/Saharanpur:
Uttar Pradesh Police has arrested Nazir Ahmed Wani, the main accused in the 1993 blast in Deoband of the state, from Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir. Officials gave this information on Tuesday. He told that Wani was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police team with the help of Jammu and Kashmir Police. Wani had contested the recently held Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections from Budgam assembly seat against Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, but he lost.
Wani (51) had mentioned his occupation as trading in the election affidavit. However, he has not mentioned the Deoband blast case in his election affidavit. On the other hand, Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh) Superintendent of Police (Rural) Sagar Jain said that in a joint action of Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and Deoband Police, the accused in the bomb blasts in Deoband has been arrested from Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday.
The officer said that he had been living in different places for the last 31 years by changing his name and attire to deceive everyone. Jain told that after the demolition of the disputed structure in Ayodhya in the year 1992, there were communal riots in the entire country and during that time communal violence took place at many places in Deoband also. He said that during this violence in August 1993, policemen were attacked with bombs in the city.
He told that at that time the police had registered a case and arrested Nazir Ahmed and in 1994 he was granted bail by the court.
According to Jain, he was absconding after coming out on bail and the police was searching for him in this case. He told that accused Nazir was living in Srinagar after the bomb blasts.
According to the police, this alleged terrorist of Hizbul Mujahideen was living in Deoband before the bomb blast, but he absconded from here after getting bail from jail. Four people including two policemen were injured in that bomb blast. Jain told that he was not coming to the court for the last 31 years, after which a permanent warrant was issued against him by the court on 20 May 2024.
Saharanpur Police had announced a reward of Rs 25 thousand on terrorist Wani. The captured terrorist is said to be an active member of Hizbul Mujahideen.
