Hyderabad: A man allegedly linked to the Pakistani terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and who had planned to carry out attacks in Hyderabad has been arrested, it was announced on Monday.
Police Commissioner A K Khan said Mohammed Zia-ul-Haq, 34, was planning to cause explosions in busy areas of Hyderabad city, alerts regarding which were received in recent days.
Zia, a native of Adilabad district in Andhra Pradesh and residing here for many years, was arrested on the Andhra Pradesh-Karnataka border.
The arrest came during the searches going on in the city for the last few days in view of the reports of possible terror attacks.
Two grenades of Chinese make, one 7.4 pistol of Chinese make with six rounds and a mobile phone were recovered from him.
Police claimed that Zia underwent arms training in Pakistan and was planning major strikes in the city. "He wanted to inflict maximum damage through attacks at crowded places," Khan said.
According to the police commissioner, Zia was also involved in the grenade attack in Odeon cinema theatre in Hyderabad in 2006. Two persons were injured in the attack.
While studying in the 12th standard, Zia went to Saudi Arabia for a job and there came into contact with LeT commander Abdul Aziz alias Abu Rehan alias Vali.
"Abu Ali used to exhibit the CDs of the Godhra carnage of 2002 and the demolition of the Babri Masjid and used to preach that Islam is suppressed violently in India.
"He went to Karachi and from there to Muzaffarabad, where he underwent arms training for a month," the commissioner said. He was tasked with creating terror among the public in Hyderabad.
After the training, Zia crossed over into India along with seven other Indians through Poonch sector in Jammu and Kahsmir. He reached Hyderabad and since then was working as a taxi driver and operating as a sleeper cell of LeT.
In December 2005, he went to Delhi where he received a pistol, four hand grenades and a pistol with six rounds from an unknown courier sent by Mehamamood, the LeT commander.
On May 7, 2006, he carried out a grenade blast in Odeon theatre in Chikkadpally area. He left the second grenade in the dustbin.
Of later he wanted to revive his contacts with LeT handlers. He was tasked to cause explosions in Hyderabad by using the material still with him.
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