Contrary to reports issued on Monday that the suspected chief of the al-Qaeda operations in Asia had been nabbed, police on Tuesday said it was untrue. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a police officer participating in the operation in the Islamnagar precinct of Pakistan's Gujarat area, told The News that some al-Qaeda suspects had arrested after a shootout, but they did not include the terrorist outfit's chief. Other sources said that earlier security agencies had received information that he was hiding somewhere in Gujarat. "It was strongly believed that the wanted member of al-Qaeda, who carried millions of rupees on his head, was inside the house and it was for this reason the government wanted to arrest the terrorists alive," the sources were quoted as saying. | I'm sure the reward poster sez "Wanted, Dead or Alive". |
They, however, added that the real target could not be captured. | "Why, it's like he knows knows we're coming." |
Brigadier Javed Iqbal Cheema, the head of National Crisis Management Cell, was in charge of the operation. |