Delhi HC blast: NIA hunts for Hizbul terrorist Junaid-ToI-9.10.11

Agency Alerts All States, Border Forces & Immigration Authorities To Prevent Him From Fleeing The Country

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday launched a manhunt to trace Kashmiri medical student Wasim Akram Malik’s younger brother Junaid Akram, a Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) terrorist, for his direct involvement in the Delhi High Court blast on September 7. The agency had arrested Wasim on Thursday. 
    The NIA has sensitised all the states, border forces and immigration authorities as intelligence inputs suggest that Junaid, who has been missing since November last year, is in India and may try to sneak out of the country following Wasim’s arrest. 
    Sources in the agency said Junaid’s arrest would help them connect the dots, leading them to the person, who had planted the bomb outside the HC. 
    They said though Wasim did not appear to know the whereabouts of Junaid, he had given enough details connecting both the brothers with the blast that left 15 people killed and 80 others injured. 
    Dismissing Wasim’s father’s contention that his son was in Jammu on the day of the incident, sources in the agency said the argument did not rule out his involvement in the plot along with associates of his younger brother. 
    Pleading innocence of his elder son Wasim, who is studying MBBS in a private college in Dhaka, his father Reyaz-ul-Hassan Malik on Friday said Wasim was in Jammu on September 7 and had drawn cash from an ATM and shopped at various malls where CCTV cameras were installed and the footage could be accessed to prove his presence in the city. 
    NIA officials, however, said that Wasim’s presence in Jammu on September 7 did not absolve him from the crime. His absence from the scene of crime could be an alibi. However, at this juncture, he is suspected to be one of the conspirators. 
    “Bombs could be planted by others and Junaid’s arrest may lead us to them,” they added. 
    Wasim and Junaid’s names figured during the questioning of HM member Azhar Ali in Jammu’s Kotbalwal jail. Ali had recruited Junaid and trained him. He was arrested last year for his alleged involvement in recruiting people from Kishtwar area besides procuring SIM cards for HM cadre.