LeT operative planning major attacks in Hyderabad held

HYDERABAD - Hyderabad police have arrested an alleged terror operative, who has links with Pakistani terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and was planning to carry out attacks here.

Police Commissioner A.K. Khan told reporters Monday evening that Zia-ul-Haq, 34, was arrested during the searches which have been going on in the city for the last few days in view of the alerts of possible terror attacks.

Zia, a native of Adilabad district in Andhra Pradesh and residing here for last several years, was arrested on Andhra Pradesh-Karnataka border. A Chinese-made pistol, ammunition, a Chinese-made grenade and a cell phone were seized from him.

Police claimed that Zia underwent arms training in Pakistan and was planning major strikes in the city. “He wanted to inflict maximum damage through attacks at crowded places,” Khan said. He, however, replied in negative when a reporter asked if the accused had any specific targets.

According to the police commissioner, Zia was also involved in the grenade attack in Odeon Cinema theatre in Hyderabad in 2006. Two persons were injured in that attack.

After studying till Class 12, Zia went to Saudi Arabia for a job and there came under the influence of terrorists. In 2002, he came into contact with LeT operatives and went to Pakistan. “He went to Karachi and from there to Muzaffarabad, where he underwent arms training, including in use of AK 47 and explosives,” the police commissioner said.

After the training, Zia crossed over into India along with six others through Poonch sector of Jammu and Kahsmir. He reached Hyderabad and since then was working as taxi driver and acting as a sleeper cell of the LeT. In December 2005, he went to Delhi where he received a pistol, ammunition and hand grenades and returned to Hyderabad.

Khan said police would interrogate him to find if there were any other terror operatives working with him in Hyderabad. He said central intelligence agencies and the police of other states could also question him about his links in other parts of the country.