Yet another raid in Azamgarh by Mumbai Police

Lucknow, Oct 3 (UNI) The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of the Mumbai Police today raided the residences of the family members of Abu Rashid at Sangarpur in Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh to find out the whereabouts of the suspected Indian Mujahadeen(IM) activist.

According to police sources, the ATS team spent about 40 minutes searching the residences of some kin of Rashid, who is said to be flying the coop after the Mumbai Police nailed four members of a IM module last month.

Rashid was in Mumbai for the last two years, but went missing after the busting of IM module. He was said to be one of the members of the module and responsible for the Mumbai contemporanious blasts.

''The raid did not yeild any fruitful results,'' said a police official.

The UP Police confirmed the raids, but made it clear that the state police had nothing to do with it.

According to eye-witnesses, the Mumbai Police with the assistance of the district police had cordoned off the area and searched some houses in Sanjarpur area. Later, they left without taking anything with them.

Azamgarh is now being tagged as the new breeding ground for the militants. Police teams from New Delhi conducted searches in the district on September 23 in pursuit of militants suspected to be hiding in the area. The raids were conducted at the houses of suspected militants Saif and Sajjid. A few persons had been detained for questioning in connection with the Delhi serial blasts.

Till now, seven persons out of the reported 13-member module of the Indian Mujahideen that has claimed the responsibility for a string of attacks in Jaipur, Ahmedabad and New Delhi between May and September, together killing more than 130 people, have been either killed or arrested.

UNI MB SB ATI ND1136