NIA nabs 2 from UP for blasts at Modi’s rally

The accused, Ahmed and Fakhruddin of Mirzapur, were being brought to Lucknow and will be taken to Patna on Tuesday where they will be produced before the designated court.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday arrested two persons from UP’s Mirzapur district for allegedly supplying explosives to trigger serial blasts in Patna outside the rally ground of BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in October last year. Six persons were killed in the blasts.

The accused, Ahmed and Fakhruddin of Mirzapur, were being brought to Lucknow and will be taken to Patna on Tuesday where they will be produced before the designated court.

The NIA officials said they have collected evidence indicating the role of the two in providing explosives to absconding Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative Haider Ali alias Abdullah, a native of Jharkhand. The officials, however, added involvement of Ahmed and Fakhruddin in planning the blasts would be ascertained after interrogation.

The names of the two had cropped up following the arrest of alleged SIMI agent Umer Siddiqui from Raipur in November last year. He was handed over to the NIA after it was found that he had given shelter to prime accused Haider Ali.