Gandhinagar: Minister of State for Home, Pradipsinh Jadeja today briefed media persons about arrest of year 2002 Akshardham attack accused Yasin Butt. He was arrested from Anantnag in Jammu & Kashmir by a team of Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) Gujarat. Jadeja described Butt as main conspirator of Akshadrham attack.

Attack on Akshardham in State capital Gandhinagar took place at around 4.30 pm on September 24 in year 2002. Two terrorists had attacked the temple and those inside the temple campus. They were killed. Total 33 persons had lost life in this terror attack. 86 including 23 police jawans were injured.

Jadeja said, Yasin Butt had plotted this attack with Manzur, Kamil, Zuber and other Lashkar e Taiyaba terrorists. Yasin had created a secret chamber in J&K passing Ambassador car and arms including AK-47 rifles were put inside that chamber. The car was sent to Bareli in Uttar Pradesh through Chand Khan. Later other terrorists were introduced to Chand Khan. Later arms were transferred to Ahmedabad via train with Chand Khan and Shakil. Chand Khan was arrested in year 2003. Yasin had threatened him not to reveal his name. Yasin had escaped to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Gujarat ATS was in search of Yasin. Recently, ATS had received information that Yasin had come to Anantnag.

A joint team of ATS and SOG (Special Operation Group) Ahmedabad had reached Anantnag where with the help of local police, Yasin was detained. Yasin was working in wood warehouse in Anantnag.

Yasin was brought to Ahmedabad today evening by air. Chetak commandos and other police staff was deployed at airport ahead of his arrival.

He has been brought here on 6-day transit remand.

ATS version

Ahmedabad:One of the main accused of the deadly terror attack on Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar in September 2002, has been nabbed from Anantnag in Kashmir by the Anti Terror Squad (ATS) of Gujarat police in a joint operation with the local police.

Gujarat ATS SP Himanshu Shukla today said that Yasin Ghulam Mohammad Bhatt, a resident of Anantnag had played a major role in supply of arms for the deadly attack. He has been nabbed on a tip off. Attempts were made to nab him earlier also but he used to escape to the Pakistan occupied Kashmir. He has been brought here by air and would be interrogated in detail. He can throw light on the important aspects of the conspiracy for the attack.

He will be handed over the the crime branch, the investigating agency, for further inquiry and investigation. Notably, in November last year also the crime branch had nabbed yet another accused of the attack, Mohamed Farukh Shaikh (47), who had fled from the country after the incident was settled in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia since 1994 and was on the run for the past 16 years. He had returned Gujarat to meet family members and 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 conspiracy of the incident to revenge 2002 Gujarat riots that erupted after the Godhara train burning incident.

In November 2017 also around 60 year old Abdul Rashid Ajmeri, one of the masterminds of the incident was 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.

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.

DeshGujarat