In a joint operation, the Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir Police on Tuesday arrested two suspected militants of Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islamia (HuJI) from Doda area of Jammu in connection with last month's serial blasts in three court premises in UP.The two, identified as Sajjad and Tariq Kashmiri alias Akhthar, were picked from Doda town by the police forces of the two states along with sleuths of Central Security agencies and taken to Lucknow on a transit remand, official sources said.The name of the two came up during the interrogation of HuJI militants Mohammed Khalid and Tariq, arrested by UP police's Special Task Force and Central Security Agencies on December 21.Sajjad, a resident of Kishtawar, is alleged to have planted bomb in Faizabad court premises while Tariq Kashmiri is said to have provided logistic support for carrying out the serial blasts in Lucknow, Varanasi and Faizabad on November 23 last, that left over a dozen people dead and more than 50 people injured.They claimed Sabah Hijaji, Jammu and Kashmir-based commander of banned HuJI militant outfit, as the mastermind of the serial blasts in the state.The sources claimed that during interrogation of the arrested HuJI militants, they told that they had brought the consignment of Ammonium Nitrate and RDX from Jammu and West Bengal.Sajjad, picked up from Kishtawar, had come in contact with the HuJI militants when he was studying in a Madrassa at Deoband in Uttar Pradesh, the sources claimed.They said orders were directly received from Hijaji in Doda area, who was under pressure from across the border to act following continued depletion of his cadre which were either being killed in an encounter or were being arrested by the police.The arrested HuJI militants have also named a West Bengal resident involved in the serial blasts and the police has launched a manhunt to nab him.After the Delhi serial blast in 2005, if the sources were to be believed, this was possibly the first case which has been cracked by the central security agencies where the actual perpetrators have also been arrested.The first arrest - Mohammad Khalid and Mohammad Tariq - was made outside Barabanki railway station by the Special Task Force of the UP Police following specific information provided by the central security agencies.While Khalid, who hails from Jaunpur district, is alleged to have executed the three blasts on November 23, Tariq, who hails from Azamgarh district, is accused of being involved in serial blasts in Gorakhpur on May 22 last.RDX weighing 1.25 kgs, six detonators, nine ammonium nitrate rods, four cell phones and a SIM card were recovered from their possession.
