Cops hunt for LeT men who sought recruits in Muzzafarnagar

Delhi Police, on the basis of inputs by CIA, last December registered a case of criminal conspiracy and membership of the banned terror outfit

Delhi Police are looking for Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives who tried to recruit new cadres in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district inn the wake of riots, an official said Tuesday.

Delhi Police, on the basis of inputs by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), last December registered a case of criminal conspiracy and membership of the banned terror outfit.

Acting on the information, Md Shahid and Md Rashid were arrested from Haryana's Mewat area.

During interrogation, police found that Rashid along with one more LeT member went to Deoband and met Liaqat, 58, a resident of Muzzafarnagar and a government teacher, said Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) S N Srivastava.

Liaqat took the two to Thana Bahawan railway station in Muzzafarnagar district, where he arranged a meeting of their meeting with Zameer, another resident of Muzzafarnagar, and left the place.

Liaqat and Zameer belong to Muzzafarnagar, but they were not riot victims, police said.

The September violence in Muzaffarnagar claimed over 60 lives.

Later, the duo interacted with Zameer, saying that they want to kidnap people to collect money for the construction of a mosque in the area.

Zameer, however, backed off.

After that, Rashid and the other person went back to Mewat through Palwal.

Police later caught Liaqat and Zameer and their statements were recorded.

The search is now on for LeT operatives Abdul Subhan, Aftab Ansari, Aamir Raza Khan, and Jawed Baluchi, police said.