Two alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba militants lodged in Lucknow District Jail gave police the slip at a local court where they were brought for a hearing around Tuesday noon. Police said the two, arrested on March 26, 2002 on charges of conspiring to attack the disputed structure in Ayodhya, are Pakistani nationals. Following the duo’s flight, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rajiv Krishna has suspended and ordered arrests of three policemen — Sub Inspector Ram Awadh Ram and two constables who were escorting the militants from jail to the court. The cops have been charged with negligence on duty. The state government has announced an award of Rs 1 lakh each on these POTA accused. The absconders have been identified as Masood Ahmed and Mohammad Syed, though they are known by many assumed names. SSP Krishna said the police have formed several teams and launched a massive manhunt to trace the duo.
A Delhi court had earlier awarded death sentence to Masood Ahmed for attacking a CRPF camp in 2001. A constable had died in that attack. “Both are active members of Lashkar and were in possession of heavy ammunition when they were arrested,” ASP (Special task Force) Rajesh Pandey said. He said police recovered an AK-47 rifle, three magazines, 72 live cartridges, an Internet card, explosives and timer devices from them after the arrest. According to police, Pakistan currency was also recovered from them.
On Tuesday morning, the two were kept in lock-up at the district judgeÂ’s court till about 11.30 am, when they were taken for their hearing, police said. But since the court was hearing another case, they waited with police escorts outside, awaiting their call. According to police, the duo requested their escorts to let them go to the bathroom at around 11.45 am. They reportedly came out of the bathroom, a couple of minutes later, with pistols aimed at the police escorts.
According to police, the duo then ran out towards the rear side of Balrampur Hospital, located next to the court premises, before disappearing in the bylanes of Nai Basti, under Wazirganj police circle According to information, an unidentified youth had entered the washroom and is likely to have planted the pistols inside when the militants were waiting outside the courtroom with the police escorts.
Police sources said two constables escorting them — Naresh and Amit — trailed the duo on their flight and the militants allegedly fired at the constables after reaching the hospital’s rear side. The constables, too, shot back in retaliation, though none was reported hit. Several senior officers, including the Lucknow DIG and SSP, reached Nai Basti area for the search operation. The police teams checked every settlement in the area, choc-a-bloc with matchbox-size houses.
Police sources said a local resident there, one Mohammad Asif, told the cops that two men came asking him for the residence of one Vicky. Asif apparently saw them ride away on different motorcycles with two other persons after a few minutes.
Meanwhile, police are also on the lookout for the youth who allegedly planted the pistol in court washroom, as also the two other men who, as per AsifÂ’s information, helped the militants escape on motorcycles from Nai Basti. According to record, there were 11 millitant lodged in Lucknow jail. Four of them were charged on POTA.