A key accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts has been nabbed from the airport in Maharashtra’s capital by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS). The accused was identified as Munaf Halari who is said to have connections with terrorists in Pakistan.
According to the Gujarat ATS officials, Halari, who was traveling from Nairobi to Dubai on a Pakistani passport, was arrested from the Mumbai international airport by a team of the Gujarat ATS.
The 55-year-old accused was going to board an international flight from Mumbai but he soon came to be suspected, said Assistant Commissioner of Police (ATS) K.K. Patel.
Hilari is one of the most wanted terrorists affiliated with Pakistani terror outfits. In the year 1993, one of the worst terror attacks took place in Mumbai in which 260 people were killed and over 700 injured in serial bomb blasts.
Halari was on the radar of the Gujarat ATS after five Pakistani nationals were arrested in January off the Gujarat coast with drugs worth Rs 175 crore. They revealed the involvement of Halari in the Mumbai serial bomb blast during the interrogation.
Halari was taken to Ahmedabad and will be interrogated. Halari was the prime accused in Mumbai serial bomb blast after which he fled to Bangkok. His Pakistani passport has been seized by the Gujarat ATS.
Hilari was living in Nairobi, Kenya where he was running his own business under his new identity of a Pakistani National. On the instructions of Tiger Memon, he entered into the business of export-import of foodgrains. However, his main intention behind starting this business was to smuggle explosives and contraband into India,” said the ATS officer. The accused will be handed over to the CBI for further investigation.
