03-29-2006, 06:24 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Allahabad Imam held for Varanasi blasts
Pioneer News Service / Allahabad / Varanasi
The Special Task Force (STF) of Uttar Pradesh probing the 3/7 Varanasi serial blasts has picked up Imam Waliullah, the Pesh Imam of Phulpur in Allahabad for his alleged involvement in the terror attack. In the past, this imam has been accused of associating with anti-national elements and was arrested and jailed in 2001.
<b>Imam Waliullah, who was under surveillance for some time, was picked up by a STF team on Wednesday. The STF sleuths in plain clothes accosted the imam and before he could raise an alarm, huddled him into a waiting SUV and took him to an undisclosed destination for interrogation. </b>
The entire operation was carried out in a hush-hush manner and kept completely under wraps. It was after some sympathisers of the imam took to the streets, claiming that the cleric had been kidnapped, that the local Allahabad Police came to know of the raid and detention.
According to STF sources, the sleuths were despatched from Lucknow only after collecting adequate evidence against the Pesh Imam. <b>The source said that Imam Waliullah was a scholar at Deoband and it was during his stay at the seminary as a research scholar that he came in contact with some terrorists and their leaders active in Jammu & Kashmir</b>.
The STF official confided that soon after the blasts rocked the holy temple town on the eve of Holi, sleuths noticed that certain individuals would frequently visit the Imam in Phulpur. Those visits suddenly stopped. The STF, meanwhile, analysed the links of Imam Waliullah with some specific Islamist terrorists, and after being convinced of his alleged links with them and their leaders, nabbed the Pesh Imam.
<b>Earlier in 2001, Waliullah had been nabbed alongwith his brothers, Wasiullah and Ubaidullah, for their alleged involvement in anti-national activities. The police had to face stiff local resistance but somehow managed to send them to jail.</b>
Meanwhile, in Varanasi, Mufti-e-Banaras and Imam of Gyanvapi Masjid, Maulana Abdul Batin Noomani, on being told about the detention of the Allahabad cleric, said that until the crime was established no innocent should be harassed.
The Mufti was quick to add that anyone, irrespective of religion, should be punished severely as per the law of the land if he is involved in heinous crimes and terrorist attacks like that in Varanasi.
Maulana Batin was among the religious leaders who not only condemned the Varanasi blasts but also played a key role in ensuring communal harmony. Besides, he strongly condemned terrorism and issued a fatwa, telling Muslims that there is no place for violence and killing of innocent people in Islam.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Pioneer News Service / Allahabad / Varanasi
The Special Task Force (STF) of Uttar Pradesh probing the 3/7 Varanasi serial blasts has picked up Imam Waliullah, the Pesh Imam of Phulpur in Allahabad for his alleged involvement in the terror attack. In the past, this imam has been accused of associating with anti-national elements and was arrested and jailed in 2001.
<b>Imam Waliullah, who was under surveillance for some time, was picked up by a STF team on Wednesday. The STF sleuths in plain clothes accosted the imam and before he could raise an alarm, huddled him into a waiting SUV and took him to an undisclosed destination for interrogation. </b>
The entire operation was carried out in a hush-hush manner and kept completely under wraps. It was after some sympathisers of the imam took to the streets, claiming that the cleric had been kidnapped, that the local Allahabad Police came to know of the raid and detention.
According to STF sources, the sleuths were despatched from Lucknow only after collecting adequate evidence against the Pesh Imam. <b>The source said that Imam Waliullah was a scholar at Deoband and it was during his stay at the seminary as a research scholar that he came in contact with some terrorists and their leaders active in Jammu & Kashmir</b>.
The STF official confided that soon after the blasts rocked the holy temple town on the eve of Holi, sleuths noticed that certain individuals would frequently visit the Imam in Phulpur. Those visits suddenly stopped. The STF, meanwhile, analysed the links of Imam Waliullah with some specific Islamist terrorists, and after being convinced of his alleged links with them and their leaders, nabbed the Pesh Imam.
<b>Earlier in 2001, Waliullah had been nabbed alongwith his brothers, Wasiullah and Ubaidullah, for their alleged involvement in anti-national activities. The police had to face stiff local resistance but somehow managed to send them to jail.</b>
Meanwhile, in Varanasi, Mufti-e-Banaras and Imam of Gyanvapi Masjid, Maulana Abdul Batin Noomani, on being told about the detention of the Allahabad cleric, said that until the crime was established no innocent should be harassed.
The Mufti was quick to add that anyone, irrespective of religion, should be punished severely as per the law of the land if he is involved in heinous crimes and terrorist attacks like that in Varanasi.
Maulana Batin was among the religious leaders who not only condemned the Varanasi blasts but also played a key role in ensuring communal harmony. Besides, he strongly condemned terrorism and issued a fatwa, telling Muslims that there is no place for violence and killing of innocent people in Islam.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->