Alleged IM operative Ariz confesses involvement in Lucknow, Varanasi blasts

Alleged Indian Mujahideen operative Ariz Khan alias Junaid has confessed to his involvement in a series of bombings that took place between 2005 and 2008, according to home ministry officials familiar with the details of his interrogation by counter-terrorism officials.

Ariz, 32, was arrested by Delhi police in February from near the Indo-Nepal border after he was picked up from the Himalayan country. Two months later, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) too took him into custody in connection with a case registered by it.

“Investigation in this case (registered by NIA) has revealed that accused Ariz Khan alias Junaid was involved in the serial blast at Delhi in the year 2005, serial blast at Varanasi in the year 2006, Uttar Pradesh Court blast in the year 2007, serial blast at Jaipur in the year 2008, serial blast at Ahmedabad in the year 2008 and serial blast at Delhi in the year 2008,”an NIA statement released on April 18 said.

NIA officials say Ariz, during his interrogation, confessed to his involvement in all these blasts.

In the 2005 Diwali-eve serial blasts, the Delhi police blamed Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives, but last year a court acquitted three of the accused who were tried in the case.

“Ariz Khan has also told interrogators that he planted one of the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) at Varanasi on March 7, 2006. Three IEDs were planted in the holy city and Ariz planted the one that exploded at the cantonment railway station,” said a home ministry official familiar with details of his interrogation, on condition of anonymity.

But the UP police charged Walliullah, an Imam from Phulpur, for sheltering a group of terrorists that had come from Bangladesh. Walliullah’s trial is still on in a Ghaziabad court.