{"id":35892,"date":"2018-01-11T20:06:08","date_gmt":"2018-01-11T14:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apnlive.com\/?p=35892"},"modified":"2018-01-11T20:12:28","modified_gmt":"2018-01-11T14:42:28","slug":"2000-red-fort-attack-delhi-police-gujarat-ats-arrest-let-suspect-from-igi-airport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apnlive.com\/india-news\/2000-red-fort-attack-delhi-police-gujarat-ats-arrest-let-suspect-from-igi-airport\/","title":{"rendered":"2000 Red Fort attack: Delhi police, Gujarat ATS arrest LeT suspect from IGI airport"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bilal Ahmed Kawa, suspected to be linked with the Lashkar-e-Taiba, was arrested from Terminal 3 of the Delhi airport at around 6 pm on Wednesday.
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In a major counter-terrorism operation, a joint force of the Delhi Police and the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad on Wednesday arrested one suspect in the 2000 Red Fort attack in the national capital from Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport.<\/p>\n

According to the police, the Gujarat ATS had informed the Delhi police that a man named Bilal Ahmed Kawa, who had earlier been declared as a proclaimed offender in the case, was travelling from Srinagar to Delhi. Reportedly, Kawa, suspected to be linked with the Lashkar-e-Taiba<\/a>, was arrested at around 6 pm on Wednesday and his interrogation is underway.<\/p>\n

According to a police official, money amounting to about Rs 29.50 lakh was transferred through hawala links to different accounts, including those of the arrested terror suspect, to fund the attack in which three army men were killed.<\/p>\n

The police further claimed that Kawa, who was on the run since 2000, had been hiding in Kashmir. Reportedly, Kawa confessed during the interrogations that he had been changing location frequently but settled down at Kashmir for a long time. According to sources, the wanted terror suspect was on his way to meet his brother in Delhi.<\/p>\n

However, the family of Kawa has rejected Intelligence\u2019s claims that he was involved in the Red Fort terror attack. Claiming that his family had never moved out of Kashmir, a relative of the terror suspect said, \u201cWe have been living in this place for decades. Although Bilal has constructed a new house, his ancestral home remains on the compound. Bilal never left this place. If he was underground for 17 years, why did the police not search his house?\u201d<\/p>\n

Further claiming that Kawa was just a teenager when the attack took place, his uncle, Mohammad Shafi said, \u201cEven this time, he had gone to Delhi under his own name, carrying haak (collard greens) and Kashmiri bread for his family. Terrorists don\u2019t live in their own houses and book flight tickets in their own name.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Kawa\u2019s cousin Hina, the terror suspect went to the national capital to meet his wife and daughter, who went to Delhi to spend the winter. \u201cBilal\u2019s brother, Niyaz Ahmad Kawa, resides in Delhi. Bilal and his family would stay with him every winter to get away from the cold weather here,\u201d said Hina.<\/p>\n

On December 22, 2000, two heavily armed terrorists opened indiscriminate firing in an attack at the iconic Red Fort in Delhi, claiming the lives of three Indian Army jawans of the 7^{th<\/sup> Rajputana Rifles and one civilian. While 11 people \u2013 including mastermind Mohammad Arif had been convicted in the case \u2013 Kawa had been absconding for the past 18 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"}