Blasts-linked militants, policeman killed in Delhi gunbattle

New Delhi, Sep 19 (PTI) Two terrorists of the 'Indian Mujahideen' allegedly involved in the serial blasts in Delhi and other places including Ahmedabad, were killed in a fierce gunbattle in south city on Friday that also claimed the life of a highly-decorated Inspector of the Delhi Police.

Mohan Chand Sharma, an Inspector with Special Cell and a President's Gallantry Medal winner who led the encounter in a crowded residential locality of Jamia Nagar, sustained critical gun shot injuries in the abdomen, thigh and right arm and succumbed to them.

Doctors battled hard and conducted surgery to save his
life but the end came around 7 P.M. local time.

One of the two terrorists killed was identified as
Atif, an operative of the Indian Mujahideen, a reincarnation
of the banned Student Islamic Movement of India (S.I.M.I.),
who is believed to have played a "key role" in the blasts in
Delhi as well as in Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Bangalore, Delhi
Police Commissioner Y. S. Dadwal told reporters here on the
shootout that lasted about an hour.

Atif's accomplice Sajid, also a member of the Indian
Mujahideen which is a shadow outfit of the banned S.I.M.I. and
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), was also killed while police nabbed
Mohammed Saif who was injured in the gunbattle in 'Batla
House', a four-storied building.

The militants fired eight rounds during the gunbattle
while police retaliated with 22 rounds, Dadwal said adding
police also recovered an A.K.-47 assault rifle along with two
0.30 pistols and a computer from the L-18 residence where the
militants were staying for the past two months.

Another head constable Balwant also received bullet
injuries and is recuperating in a hospital.

Atif is said to be a close associate of Mohammed Usman
Qureshi alias Tauqeer, the elusive mastermind behind the
serial bomb blasts in various parts of the country in the
recent past, and had travelled to Ahmedabad on July 24, two
days before the serial blasts in that city, Dadwal said.

He allegedly went to Gujarat with 10 people on July
24 and returned on July 27 along with 12 others including two
people who had allegedly arranged for the cars found laden
with explosives in Surat, he said.

The Commissioner said the gunbattle has no connection
with the bringing of Abu Bashar, one of the key man in the
Ahmedabad blasts, to the national capital by Gujarat Police
for investigations into Ahmedabad blasts.

Dadwal said the bombs planted in the national capital
had "signature components" of the bombs used in Jaipur,
Bangalore and Ahmedabad.

The two detonators, wooden frame and a table clock
were the components of the bombs used in all these blasts, he
said adding "We believe that Taqueer has done the reccee here
and that he was involved in planting bombs."

The locality also saw tension running high as police
parties were searching the thickly populated area. Slogan
shouting residents staged a protest accusing the police of
firing at a nearby masjid, a charge denied by Deputy
Commissioner of Police (South) H.G.S. Dhaliwal.

Meanwhile, police picked up five residents of Jamia
Nagar for questioning after the gunbattle.

The owner of the house where the five militants were
holed up has been detained along with four others of the
locality, a senior police official said adding they were being
questioned to know more about the militants who were residing
in the area. PTI TEAM
KNO
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