Tunda, one-armed bomber who spelt terror in 90s, held

Tunda, one-armed bomber who spelt terror in 90s, held Top Terrorist Arrested On Nepal Border Neeraj Chauhan TNN  New Delhi: Abdul Karim Tunda, the one-armed bomber who ranks among the 20 “most wanted” terrorists in India andwasinvolvedin a series of blasts in Delhi and other cities in the 90s, was arrested by the Delhi Police from near the Nepal border in Uttarakhand on Friday afternoon.      Tunda, whose name came to spell terror after he carried out a series of low-intensity blasts in the national Capital between 1996 and 1998, was arrested when he, after crossing over from Nepal via Banwasa-Mahendranagar, was heading towards western Uttar Pradesh. Besides the 24 blasts he had set off in Delhi, the notorious bomb-maker — aligned to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) — was also wanted for the train blasts in Mumbai and Hyderabad in 1993 and other explosions in Punjab, Gulbarga, Surat, Haryana, Lucknow andother partsof UP.     Tunda (70), who was sheltered by his patrons in Pakistan, was nabbed by a team of Delhi Police’s special cell officers which was monitoring his movements since he reached Nepal carrying a Pakistani passportidentifyinghim as Abdul Quddus.     Given that he was among the first terrorists who were part of a countrywide jehadi network, the police hopes to get a trove of information from the man.     Besides possible information on those who helped him carry out his deadly run in Delhi, police expect to extract details from Tunda about the LeT modules in other parts of the country. Delhi Policechief B S BassitoldTOI that Tunda is a “gold mine of information”.  MOST WANTED      Delhi Police arrest Syed Abdul Karim ‘Tunda’ from Indo-Nepal border on Friday      Nicknamed ‘Tunda’ after he lost left hand while making bomb in Rajasthan in 80s     Many roles in Lashkar: Bomb-maker, fund-raiser, motivator & recruiter. Also, Dawood Ibrahim’s conduit for funds 70-yr-old born in Delhi, in India’s list of 20 most wanted terrorists Carpenter & scrap dealer till he turned a jehadi at 40 Masterminded more than 40 bombings across country; role suspected in Bodhgaya blasts as well Enjoys close access to LeT founder & 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed since 1995. Bearing resemblance to Saeed, often mistakenly addressed as ‘Saeed Sahab’ by Lashkar cadres  • ‘Jab main nikloonga, tab main karoonga (when I get out, I will carry out blasts),’ an unrepentant Tunda reportedly told interrogators • Tunda tracked down in Kathmandu and arrested in intel operation or extradited by UAE? • Linked to LeT, JeM, BKI, Dawood Ibrahim; planned attack ahead of CWG • Businessman, preacher, ‘hakimji’ & family man ‘Tunda collaborated with Babbar Khalsa’  New Delhi: Abdul Karim Tunda is an important catch as he was the main perpetrator of the serials blasts between 1996 and 1998, Delhi Police commissioner B S Bassi told TOI. “He has knowledge about all the activities of Lashkar-e-Toiba. We are interrogating him to get more details,” Bassi said.     Tunda collaborated with other alleged top-ranking terrorists such as Dr Jalees Ansari in Mumbai and Azam Ghauri in Hyderabad after Bhiwandi riots in 1985 to form Tanzeem Islah-ul-Muslimeen (Islamic Armed Organization/ Organization for the Improvement of Muslims).     The Tanzeem was inspired by Ahl-e-Hadis, the same sect that LeT owes allegiance to.     Sources said that Tunda, who is defiant and has boasted about his ambition to resume his career in terror after his release, has already told his interrogators that he had collaborated with Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), on an unsuccessful plot to carry out terror attacks ahead of the Commonwealth Games here in 2010.     The Delhi Police came to know about the plot after the arrest of another LeT operative, Shamim, in November, 2010.     Originally a resident of Walled City in Delhi, he came to be defined by the nickname “Tunda” — the man with a missing arm — which he earned after suffering injury while making bomb in the mid-80s. The handicap did not deter him from using his familiarity with chemicals he had acquired by working in the dyeing units of Pilkhuwa near Ghaziabad, to deadly use.     Radicalized by LeT, he emerged as a master bomb-maker who became a crucial part of growing LeT network, passing on his bomb-making skills to other recruits in different parts of the country. From the standards of RDX-packed explosives aimed at exacting maximum casualties, Tunda’s bombs were simple and of low intensity.     A jubilant Special Cell termed the arrest a major breakthrough for counter-terror efforts. They said that Tunda had dispersed his bombmaking know how among diverse terror groups ranging from Khalistani outfits holed up in Pakistan to LeT’s fresh proxy Indian Mujahideen (IM).