Gujarat ATS arrests one in 2006 Ahmedabad blast case

Abdul Raza Gazi, accused in 2006 Ahmedabad blast case, was arrested from Bashirghat near Bangladesh border with help of West Bengal Police. He is associated with LeT and he gave shelter to the main accused Aslam Kashmiri and Iliyas Samar Meman.

Ahmedabad:The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Thursday arrested an accused of the 2006 Ahmedabad Kalupur Railway station bomb blast case.

The accused has been identified as Abdul Raza Gazi, a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist was on the run for 14 years, was arrested by the Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) from a village in West Bengal close to Bangladesh Border, Imtiaz Sheikh, SP, ATS Gujarat said during a press briefing on Thursday.

"He is associated with LeT and he gave shelter to the main accused," he said.

According to the ATS, Gazi gave shelter to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives Zulfikar Kagzi and Abu Jundal, who along with others were accused of planting a bomb between platform no 2 and 3 of Kalupur railway station in February 2006.

While the blast left several injured, no one was killed in it, the officials said.

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It was alleged that the bomb was planted by Kagzi, Jundal and other members of the SIMI and LeT to "take revenge of 2002 Godhra riots, the ATS said in a statement.

Apart from giving shelter to Kagzi and Jundal after the blast, Gazi also helped them in crossing the Bangladesh border. The duo then fled to Pakistan from Bangladesh, it said.

The ATS also suspects that Gazi, at the instance of Pakistan's ISI, also helped 2008 Bangalore blast accused in crossing the Bangladesh border.

Multiple bomb blasts occurred on February 19, 2006 at Kalupur Railway Station in Ahmedabad in which over 10 people were injured.

(Inputs from agencies)

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