Delhi encounter: 2 militants wanted in blasts killed

In a brush with terror in the capital for a second time in a week, two militants of the 'Indian Mujahideen' allegedly involved in the serial blasts in Delhi and other places including Ahmedabad, were killed in a fierce gunbattle that also left an Inspector seriously wounded in Jamia Nagar in South Delhi on Friday.

One of the two killed was identified as Atif, a prominent operative of the Indian Mujahideen who is believed to have played a ‘key role’ in the blasts in Delhi as well as in Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Bangalore, Delhi Police Commissioner Y S Dadwal said on the shootout that lasted about an hour.

Atif's accomplice Sajid, also a member of the Indian Mujahideen which is a shadow outfit of the banned SIMI and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), was also killed while police nabbed Mohammed Saif who was injured in the gunbattle in 'Batla House', a four-storied building.

The militants fired eight rounds during the gunbattle while police retaliated with 22 rounds, Dadwal said adding police also recovered an AK-47 assault rifle along with two 0.30 pistols and a computer from the L-18 residence where the militants were staying for the past two months.

Atif is said to be a close associate of Mohammed Usman Qureshi alias Tauqeer, the elusive mastermind behind the serial bomb blasts in various parts of the country in the recent past and had travelled to Ahmedabad on July 24, two days before the serial blasts in that city, Dadwal said.