Terror hits UP: ISIS connection to Bhopal-Ujjain train blast?

A suspected ISIS terrorist was killed in a house on the outskirts of the city after a 12-hour long operation to capture him alive. The terror suspect, Saifullah, was killed in an exchange of fire with the police. He is suspected to be linked with the blast in the Bhopal-Ujjain train yesterday, police said.

"The anti-terror operation was being monitored by senior officials. Now after opening the doors of the house (where the terrorist was holed up), the force has gone inside the house, and the suspect has been found dead along with his weapons," Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Daljit Chaudhary said today. 

He said at one point of time it appeared that more than one person was holed up inside the house. "The operation stands closed now. Rest of the legal formalities will subsequently take place," Chaudhary said. 

At least 10 people were injured, three of them seriously, in the IED blast in the train near Jabdi station in Shajapur district of Madhya Pradesh yesterday. 

Speaking to reporters after the anti-terror operation, IG ATS Aseem Arun said, "Efforts were made to catch the suspected terrorist (identified as Saifullah) alive, but unfortunately this did not materialise. We fired tear gas shells and chilly bombs, so that he comes out. But, he did not come out." 

The ATS commandos then stormed inside the house (after issuing a warning to the terrorist), Arun said. 

"The suspected terrorist then fired at the ATS commandos, which was then appropriately retaliated by the ATS commandos. After this, two rooms were thoroughly searched and checked, and the person identified as Saifullah was found dead." 

"The slain terrorist belongs to the Khurasan module of the ISIS and was an active member. But, whether he has been indoctrinated or not is a matter of investigation." 

The perpetrators of Bhopal-Ujjain train bomb explosion were influenced by ISIS ideology and the incident was a "trial blast" as the terrorists planned to carry out more attacks, Madhya Pradesh Government claimed. 

Speaking in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said said that those who orchestrated the blast arrived from Lucknow and planted the bomb in the passenger train as part of a "pre-planned conspiracy".

Chouhan said today in the state Assembly that MP police and central agencies had unmasked the people behind the train blast in just five hours. "The three suspects detained for the blast in the state are being grilled thoroughly so as to reach to more of their accomplices," he said. 

"The blast site smelt of deadly explosives. I would like to congratulate the ATS and police who immediately acted. Madhya Pradesh is a peaceful state and nobody would be allowed to create disturbance here," he said. 

In an official statement released late last night, the UP police had said that three persons were arrested by Madhya Pradesh police in Piparia town in Hoshangabad. 

Two of the arrested persons are from Kanpur, while one is from Aligarh. The Home Minister said that the arrests and the encounter in Uttar Pradesh were linked to the train blast. The blast had occurred in a general coach of the passenger train when it was on its way to Ujjain from Bhopal. 

Subsequently, anti-terror operations were carried out by police of both Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh to get hold of terrorists, suspected to be linked with the Bhopal-Ujjain train blast.

• train blast
• Ujjain
• ISIS