Delhi Police says arrested Indian Mujahideen militant Ariz Khan an expert bomb maker, wanted to revive SIMI

The Delhi Police's special cell arrested top Indian Mujahideen militant Ariz Khan from Nepal on Tuesday.

Speaking to the media, DCP Pramod Kumar Kushwaha of Delhi Police said that Ariz Khan aka Junaid, was nabbed from the India-Nepal border after the special cell got a tip off that he was going to meet an associate.

Representational image. Reuters

Calling Khan an expert bomb maker, Kushwaha said, "He was involved in several terror attacks including the 2008 Delhi serial blasts. Around 165 people died in attacks in which he was involved."  The 13 September, 2008, serial blasts in Delhi killed 30 people and injured several others.

Kushwaha said Khan carried a bounty of Rs 15 lakh on his head, adding that the amount may even be higher as many state police departments had also announced a bounty on his head.

Khan was one of the militants who escaped from Delhi's Batla House, where an encounter on 19 September, 2008, killed two Indian Mujahideen terrorists.

Kushwaha said that after Khan escaped from Batla House, he remained in India for a month before fleeing to Nepal. "There he lived with Tauqeer aka Abdul Subhan Qureshi, who is his superior. After living in Nepal for a few years, both left for Saudi Arabia," the police officer said.

Kushwaha said that Khan and Tauqeer returned to the subcontinent in 2017 in order to revive the SIMI (Student Islamic Movement of India).  The police officer said that investigation agencies were looking into allegations of his linkages with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence.

This is the second big bust for the Delhi Police in 2018 after it arrested Qureshi from Ghazipur on 22 January. Qureshi, also known as 'India's Osama bin Laden', was the main conspirator of the 2008 Gujarat serial blasts which claimed over 50 lives.