Slain terrorists sneaked into India from Nepal: police

Lucknow: The two suspected Pakistani terrorists whom the police gunned down near New Delhi on the eve of Republic Day had sneaked into India via Nepal, officials said on Tuesday.

"Of the two, Ahmed Ali, a resident of Bahawalpur in Pakistan, had flown from Karachi to Kathmandu on May 26, 2008, after which he never returned to Pakistan even though his visa expired on July 5, 2008," Uttar Pradesh Additional Director General of Police Brij Lal said.

Uttar Pradesh Police officials intercepted the terrorists' car and eliminated them after a chase and heavy exchange of fire in a remote corner of Noida, a satellite town of the national Capital, in the wee hours of Sunday.

"The entries in his Pakistani passport (recovered after the shootout) show that a 60-day Nepal visa was granted to him on May 6, 2008, against which he made his entry 20 days later," Brij Lal said.

As there was no stamp showing his exit from Nepal, the police believe he sneaked into India through the highly porous India-Nepal land border.

Brij Lal said, "This was Ali's second trip to Nepal after the one in 2007." Ali spent two months in Nepal between December 30, 2007, and February 23, 2008, when he flew back to Karachi according to Brij Lal.

Recoveries made from Ali's possession have also revealed that he was carrying two fake identity cards - one showing him as a student of a Delhi school and the other as an engineering student of a Maharashtra-based institution.

While one ID card describes him as "Samir, son of Onkar Chaudhary, student of Subhan Modern School, Vijay Nagar, Jagjeet Colony, New Usmanpura, Dehli (sic)", the other shows him as "Rakash (sic), son of Ashok Kharbanda, College of Agriculture and Technology, Parihani, Maharashtra."

Brij Lal added, "Even the way 'Delhi' was spelt in one of the ID cards and the way 'Rakesh' was spelt in the other, would arouse suspicions."

"There is enough evidence about the Pakistani nationality of the other terrorist, Abu Ismail, too as he too was carrying a Pakistani passport," the police officer added.