Police raids in Azamgarh’s “terror village” underway

Lucknow, Sept 23: Looking for more leads in Delhi blasts case, the Delhi Police on Tuesday in a joint search operation with the Uttar Pradesh Police is carrying out raids in Sanjarpur village of Azamgarh district, said to be the native village of two terrorists nabbed after last Saturday’s serial blasts in New Delhi.

About 300 policemen are part of the massive combing operation by the Anti-Terrorist Squad of the Delhi Police and the Special Task Force of the UP Police. After cordoning off the village, the Police are conducting a house-to-house search inside the village.

According to reports, an Orthopaedician and his two brothers have been arrested in connection with the Delhi blasts. Terror accused Mohammad Saif, who was arrested during Friday’s Batla house encounter in Delhi was taken to the area along with the police team. The raids are being carried out on the basis of inputs provided by Saif. Sanjarpur is the native village of Saif

Emerging as nursery of terror activities, the small town of Azamgarh came into limelight for all the wrong reasons. Once known for the Hindu-Muslim synergy and high intellect, the region is now being tagged as the new “breeding ground for the militants”. The intelligence authorities believe that the region has proved to be a fertile ground for many militant outfits.

The Police has said that 13 school friends hailing from Azamgarh had planned and executed the recent serial blasts in Delhi that claimed at least 22 lives and maimed close to 100.

While two militants were killed and one arrested during the fierce encounter, three more arrests were made on September 21. (ANI)