Gujarat terror conspiracy case: Accused held after 14 years

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Sunday nabbed a person allegedly involved in hatching a conspiracy to spread terror in the state to avenge attacks on Muslims during the 2002 post-Godhra riots.

Based on a specific tip off, a team of the squad officials nabbed one Javed Chauhan (38) from a village in Chhota Udepur district, an ATS release said.

Chauhan, accused of supplying arms to spread terror, was on the run for the last 14 years after he was named as one of the accused in that case, registered by City Crime Branch in November 2003, it said.

According to ATS officials, he was part of a larger conspiracy of spreading terror in the state to avenge the killing of Muslims during the 2002 post-Godhra riots.

Chauhan, a native of Kasba village of Chhota Udepur district, is accused of acquiring arms and ammunitions from the neighboring Madhya Pradesh based dealers and supplying them to other perpetrators involved in the crime, said the release.

"Chauhan used his connections to acquire arms and ammunitions from MP-based dealers and then supplied these arms to other accused. He was on the run for almost 14 years, during which, he was into bootlegging and other petty crimes," an official said.

In 2003, the city crime branch had registered a case under Prevention of Terrorist Activities (POTA) Act against the perpetrators and subsequently arrested around 60 accused while around 35 are still at large, the official said.

Since the case was handled by the crime branch, Chauhan will be handed over to them for further probe, the release said.