With a month to go for Gujarat Assembly election, the arrest comes at a crucial time as the BJP is believed to be trying hard to polarise the narrative on communal lines.
With the arrest of 2002 Akshardham terror attack key accused Abdulrashid Suleiman Ajmeri today from Ahemdabad, there is strong murmur in political ranks again over its timely execution.
Rashid was apprehended today, a full 15 years after gunmen stormed the iconic complex and killed 30 devotees. Brother of another accused who was acquitted by the courts, he was arrested by the Ahmedabad Police's Crime Branch from the city airport while returning from Riyadh.
Interestingly, this comes just ahead of Gujarat Assembly poll in December, with the narrative shifting to BJP trying to polarise votes on communal lines.
BJP is perceived to be struggling with Patidar and OBC communities warring over reservation, not to mention anti-incumbency of 22 years in power.
Patidars are believed to be big followers of Bhagwan Swaminarayan- the saint who is revered and worshipped at the Akshardham Temple.
Therefore, Prime Minister 
Narendra Modi's presence at its 25th anniversary on Thursday, was seen as a force multiplier since the politically influential community is currently at odds with BJP.
Their fallout with the Bhartiya Janata Party is largely attributed to the movement led by youth leader Hardik Patel, demanding reservation for Patidars under the OBC quota.
WHO IS ABDUL RASHID AJMERI?
Abdulrashid Ajmeri is one of the six accused in the 2002 Akshardham Temple terror attack case. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Dipen Bhadran told India Today that Ajmeri is mainly accused of arranging funds for the attack and planning the detailed logistics.
"He was the connecting link for the Islamic funding groups consisting of Indian Muslims in the Middle East to carry out the attack on Akshardham. He was shown videos of post-Godhra 2002 riots. We believe his motive was avenging the riots, though no one from his immediate family was directly affected by the violence," he said.
Bhadran clarifies that though his name was not in the FIR filed after the incident, it was a part of the chargesheet as his name emerged later. Additional DCP Rajdeepsinh Jhala said, "We suspect Ajmeri was in touch with Jaish-e-Mohammad and other terror organisations and routed the funding. We are hoping to uncover the links further as we interrogate him."
When asked if the arrest of Ajmeri comes at a rather convenient time for BJP that is looking to polarise electorate ahead of poll, Bhadran laughed it off. "Ajmeri booked his own tickets to travel by Kuwait Air, we had no role to play in it. Just because elections are round the corner, we couldn't allow an absconder to remain in the city," Bhadran said.
Last month, the Gujarat Anti-Terror Squad had arrested two people from Surat claiming they are linked to the Islamic State (IS). Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani alleged that Congress Rajya Sabha member Ahmed Patel was linked to atleast one of them as he was working as a lab technician in a hospital where Patel was a trustee. Patel however later clarified that he had resigned from the trust 2013, long before the said person was hired.