Indian Mujahideen co-founder Abdul Qureshi, India's 'bin Laden,' nabbed
What's the story
Abdul Subhan Qureshi, co-founder of the Indian Mujahideen (IM) and one of India's most wanted terrorists, was arrested by Delhi Police after a brief exchange of gunfire. Qureshi was the alleged mastermind of the 2008 Gujarat blasts in which 56 people were killed and over 200 injured. He is also involved in several terror-related cases being probed by police in Delhi, Maharashtra and Gujarat.
Details
Investigators were on the hunt for Qureshi since years
Qureshi was initially a commander of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). Later, he co-founded IM with other terrorists, which was banned by the government in 2010. Qureshi has an Interpol Red Corner Notice against him. The NIA had announced a reward of Rs. 4L for information leading to his arrest. Since a few years, a pan-India search was ongoing for Qureshi.
Outfit
About the Indian Mujahideen
The IM, banned by India in 2010, was declared a terrorist organization by New Zealand the same year. In 2011, the US placed it in its list of foreign terrorist organizations. Later, UK banned the outfit too. Till date, the group has claimed responsibility for several terror attacks, including bombings in Jaipur, Delhi and Pune, and serial blasts in Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Mumbai.
Gujarat
The 2008 Gujarat serial blasts killed 56, injured over 200
The infamous 2008 Gujarat bombings were a series of 21 bomb blasts in Ahmedabad within 70 minutes on July 26, a day after similar bombings in Bengaluru. Fifty-six people were killed and more than 200 injured. Minutes before the blasts, IM had sent an email to news agencies titled "Await 5 minutes for the revenge of Gujarat," apparently a reference to the 2002 riots.