New Delhi: The arrest of Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist Abdul Karim alias Tunda has come as a major boost to the Indian security agencies not only because he was wanted in more than 40 bombings across North India, but also because his arrest has exposed Pakistan's lies on terrorism. The Delhi Police said that Tunda was carrying a Pakistani passport at the time of arrest near the Indo-Nepal border.
Special Commissioner of Delhi Police (Special Cell) SN Shrivastava said Tunda was carrying a Pakistani passport No AC 4413161 issued on January 23, 2013 in the name of Abdul Quddus. Tunda, who was part of India's most wanted list of terrorists handed over to Pakistan, was in contact with LeT chief Hafiz Saeed who had masterminded the deadly November 2008 carnage in Mumbai.
Police said that Tunda is known as the bomb expert in the Laskhar-e-Toiba circle and played a major role in 1993 Bombay serial blasts, Delhi bomb blasts of 1997-98 and serial bombings in the state of UP and also at Panipat, Sonepat, Ludhiana, Hyderabad etc.
Police said Tunda had trained indoctrinated youngsters in preparing bombs with locally available materials like urea, nitric acid, potassium chloride, nitrobenzene and sugar, and planting them at crowded places to cause maximum casualties.
Meanwhile, there were conflicting reports over the circumstances in which Tunda was arrested, with one police source claiming that he was deported from a Gulf country while another source said that Tunda left Karachi around 10 days ago and reached Kathmandu via Dubai. Intelligence agencies were tracking him from Dubai and gave a tip-off to the Special Cell of Delhi Police, which finally nabbed him on Friday from the Indo-Nepal border.
Describing Tunda, against whom an Interpol Red Corner notice was issued in 1996, the security agencies say he would be able to throw some light on Lashkar-e-Toiba's operations in India.
The first breakthrough on Tunda came with the arrest in February 1998 of Tunda's two Bangladeshi 'students', Mato-ur Rehman and Akbar alias Haroon, from Sadar Bazar railway station, New Delhi, police said.
The Delhi Police later arrested 24 other members of the module, including Tunda's confidants, Kamran and Shakeel. There was temporary slowdown in the hunt for Tunda following reports that he was killed in a blast in Bangladesh in 2000.
Before becoming a terrorist, Tunda had worked as a carpenter, scrap dealer and cloth merchant. His younger brother Abdul Malik (a carpenter) is reportedly the only immediate family member alive in India.
Meanwhile, the Home Ministry has complimented the Delhi Police and central intelligence agencies for arresting Abdul Karim Tunda. "Great work by Delhi police and central intelligence agencies for the coordinated effort in arresting Tunda, one of India's most wanted terrorists," Minister of State for Home RPN Singh posted on Twitter.
(with additional inputs from PTI)
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