Lucknow encounter: Ex-IAF employee arrested, police call him 'mastermind'

The police on Thursday arrested a former Indian Air Force (IAF) employee who they believe is the "mastermind" of a terror module that included Saifullah, a suspected terrorist killed in an encounter on Wednesday.

Mohd Ghaus Khan was picked up from Kanpur by the Anti- Terrorist Squad, and revealed vital information during questioning, said Additional Director General of UP Police Daljit Chaudhary.

He said another suspect, identified only as Azhar, was also arrested by the ATS.

Khan "is a technical man and a hardcore member of the module," Chaudhary said, adding he was the "main accused and mastermind" of the module.

He said Azhar, the second suspect, was the main supplier of arms to the module. He did not say where he was arrested from, or in what capacity Khan worked in the air force.

The UP police claimed that with these two arrests, all the main members of what they alleged was an ISIS influenced module are in custody.

The latest arrests raised to five the number of people in the UP police custody in connection with the blast on the Bhopal-Ujjain train in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday. The MP police also has arrested some people.

On Wednesday, the UP police arrested three men after an encounter on the outskirts of Lucknow in which Saifullah was killed after a 12-hour ATS operation. Police say he and his alleged accomplices carried out the train blast in which at least ten persons were injured.

Police say he was self-radicalised and was influenced by the Middle Eastern terror group, ISIS. Saifullah's father has refused to claim his son's body, saying anyone who carries out a terror attack is a traitor to the nation.