Gujarat Police arrests Akshardham attack suspect

Hyderabad, July 19(ANI): A team of Organisation for Counter Terrorist Operations (OCTOPUS) of Gujarat Police arrested a terror suspect allegedly involved in the attack on Gandhinagar's Akshardham Temple in 2002,here today.

The OCTOPUS took Shoukatullah Ghouri into the custody immediately after his arrival from Saudi Arabia, at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport.

Ahmedabad court has issued a non bailable warrant against Ghouri.He was accompanied by his wife and four children from Jeddah, where he said to be working as a religious cleric in a mosque.

Ghouri was interrogated by the Intelligence Bureau, OCTOPUS, and Andhra Police in an undisclosed location. Police also reportedly questioned Ghouri's wife and children in a farmhouse in the city's outskirts, and also seized their passport and educational documents before releasing them.

Hyderabad Police said, Ghouri was handed over to Gujarat police, as no case was registered against him in Andhra Pradesh.

According to police Ghouri had links with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed and had fled to Saudi Arabia after the attack on Akshrdham temple.

He was reportedly in the city for the treatment of his ailing wife.

Ghouri's brother, Farhatullah Ghouri, is also a most wanted terrorist who allegedly masterminded the blast in Sai Baba temple at Puttaparti in Andhra Pradesh and suspected suicide attack on the office of the Hyderabad city police Task Force. Police believe that he is operating from the Gulf or Pakistan. (ANI)