Ahmedabad: One of the accused of the deadly terror attack on Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar in September 2002, was nabbed today from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport here today, police said.

ACP Crime Branch B B Gohil said that Mohamed Farukh Shaikh (47), who had fled from the country after the incident was settled in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia since 1994 and was run for past 16 years. He had returned Gujarat to meet family members and based on a tip off he was arrested this morning after his flight landed here. He was resident of Juhapura in Ahmedabad and was brother of another accused of the incident Saleem Manekh Shaikh.

He along with Abdul Rashid Ajmeri had participated in a meeting in Riyadh for conspiracty of the incident to revenge 2002 Gujarat riots that erupted after the Godhara train burning incident. Earlier in November last year around 60 year old Abdul Rashid Ajmeri, one of the masterminds of the incident was also caught by the crime branch team of Ahmedabad police from the airport soon after he landed from a Kuwait Airways flight from Gulf countries. He is brother of one of the former accused of the case who was acquitted by the apex court in 2014. He also used to live in Riyadh of Saudi Arabia since long and since even before the crime but he was involved in the conspiracy, DCP crime branch Dipen Bhadran said today.

Gohil said that Farukh would be produced in a court tomorrow.

In the incident that took place in the evening of September 24, 2002 in the temple situated a few meters away from the official CM residence in Gandhinagar, a total of 32 people including two terrorists were killed and over 80 injured. The incident was said to be a criminal conspiracy to retaliate against the post-Godhra riots in Gujarat.

A special (POTA) court had convicted six of the accused with capital punishment to three of them. The Gujarat High Court had also upheld the judgement but in 2014 the Supreme Court acquitted them. More than 20 of the accused are still at large.

Notably, the grand temple which saw completion of its construction in 1992 had celebrated its silver jubilee on November 2 last year and PM Narendra Modi remained present in the function.

DeshGujarat