IndiaPost.com - Two terrorists killed in Delhi encounter

NEW DELHI: Two HuJI militants wanted in connection with the serial blasts in Delhi and Ahmedabad were killed in a fierce encounter in Jamia Nagar of south Delhi that left two Delhi police personnel injured. The two militants have been identified as Atiq alias Bashar and Faqruddin, who were also members of the banned SIMI, and hailed from Azamgarh in eastern Uttar Pradesh, official sources said, adding one militant was arrested.

The slain militants were from the proscribed Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islamia and were involved in the serial bomb blasts in the national capital that claimed 24 lives on Saturday and Ahmedabad terror strike in July in which 77 people were killed, they said. Two militants were suspected to have escaped during the raid on the house where the five terrorists were holed up, Joint Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Karnal Singh told reporters here.

The militant, arrested after being injured in the operation, was identified as Saif. He has been admitted to hospital. The name of Atiq figured during the interrogation of Abu Bashar, one of the prime suspects in Ahmedabad blasts. He was brought to the national capital and taken to Jamia Nagar to identify the place where he had stayed along with Mohammed Usman Qureshi alias Tauqeer, the brain behind the serial blasts in the country.

Police suspect that the militants were planning to carry out more terror strikes in the national capital besides targeting some VIPs. Five residents of Jamia Nagar were picked up for questioning. The owner of the house where the five militants were holed up has been detained along with four others of the locality, a senior police official said.

The official said they were being questioned to know more about the militants who were residing in the area for about a month. Tauqeer is believed to be behind the July 26 Ahmedabad serial blasts and is also wanted in connection with September 13 bomb blasts in Delhi. Police officials said the team went to the area looking for Atiq, the associate of Tauqeer. Special Cell Joint Commissioner Karnail Singh confirmed, "There were a total of five terrorist at L-18.

Two have been shot dead and one has been arrested while two managed to escape." Police officials said they got the lead on Thursday after interrogating Ahmedabad serial bomb blast suspect Abu Bashar. Bashar identified the house in Jamia Nagar where he along with Delhi serial blasts mastermind Mohammad Subhan Qureshi had taken shelter.

He reportedly identified four places - two from North West District and one from South District - where some terrorists could be hiding. Officials also said the area was under watch since Thursday evening. A force of almost 150 police personnel was deputed in the area to assist the Special Cell in the operation. Sources claimed the terrorists holed up in the house were those from the Indian Mujahideen, who could been involved in the recent Delhi serial blasts in which at least 22 people were killed and over 130 injured. Soon after the encounter started, the area was cordoned off and senior officials of the Delhi police are present in and around the area to ensure security.