Mumbai, February 25: The anti-terrorism squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra police today arrested one of the main accused in the 2000 Kanpur bomb blast.
ATS sleuths said that they had received a tip-off that the accused Mohammed Asar Mohammed Haroon Siddiqui, 37, was residing in Nalasopara on the outskirts of the city.
“After we received the tip-off, we kept Siddiqui under observation before arresting him,” said a senior ATS official.
Siddiqui was arrested from outside a shopping centre at Nalasopara. It was a joint operation conducted with the Uttar Pradesh police, according to officials.
Siddiqui, a native of Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, was staying in Mumbai since 2001. He stayed at Dharavi for first few years before shifting to Meera Road and then to Nalasopara in the neighbouring Thane district.
“Siddiqui, a web designer by profession, is an accused in the 2000 Kanpur blast which was conducted by SIMI and Hisbul Mujahidden”, said an official.
He will be produced before a local court here tomorrow where the UP police would request for his transit remand.
—Agencies