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The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested Mohammad Yasin Butt, alleged prime conspirator of the 2002 Akshardham Temple attack, in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday.
Two armed terrorists had attacked the temple in Gandhinagar, killing 33 people, including a National Security Guard (NSG) commando and two Gujarat police officers, on September 24, 2002. The two terrorists identified as Ashraf Ali Mohammed Farooq and Murtuza Hafiz Yasin were gunned down by NSG commandos. Eighty were injured in the attack.
Butt, an alleged operative of terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, had fled to Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) after the attack, officials said.
“Butt had allegedly conspired the attack along with Manzoor, Kamil and Zubair. He had used a white ambassador car to transport AK 47s and other weapons by creating a cavity inside the vehicle. After reaching Bareilly, he allegedly made the alleged terrorists meet Chand Khan, another co-conspirator in the case. Chand Khan and Shakeel allegedly used a train to reach Ahmedabad along with the weapons. Two LeT terrorists carried out the terrorist attack at Akshardham. Even as Chand was arrested in 2003, Butt managed to flee to PoK,” said an ATS official.
He was nabbed following a tip-off that he had returned to Jammu and Kashmir and was working at a timber warehouse in Anantnag, the Gujarat Home Department said in a release. The arrest was made with the help of local police, it added.
After obtaining his transit remand from a court there, the Anti Terrorism Squad team arrived with Butt at the Ahmedabad airport on Friday evening, the release added.
(With PTI inputs)
