Gujarat ATS arrests LeT terrorist involved in 2000 Red Fort attack from Delhi's IGI airport

Gujarat Anti-terrorist Squad (ATS) on Wednesday claimed to have arrested alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist who was wanted for fidayeen attack at Delhi’s Red Fort in 2000 from Indira Gandhi International airport.

According to sources in Delhi Police, the arrested alleged LeT terrorist has been identified as Bilal Ahmad Kawa.

A senior officer of Delhi Police said, “Bilal was arrested from Delhi airport in a joint operation carried out by Gujarat ATS and Delhi Police's special cell.”

The officer added, “A large chunk of money to carry out the attack was transferred in Bilal’s account. The money was transferred to Bilal by Md Arif Ashfaq, the main conspirator of the Red Fort attack.”

On 22 December, 2000, six LeT militants sneaked into the Red Fort on the pretext of watching the light-and-sound show with arms hidden under leather jackets. They started firing indiscriminately on the guards of the 7th battalion of Rajputana Rifles. Two soldiers and a civilian guard were killed in the attack. The militants escaped by scaling the Fort's rear wall.

According to reports, the attack was backed by Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI and funded by LeT operatives.

Delhi sessions court had earlier convicted 11 persons in connection with the attack. During the course of investigation agencies had learnt that more than Rs 29 lakh were transferred through hawala and various national banks.