Was terror accused Pappu planning a 9/11-type attack?

The arrest of Shahzad Ahmed alias Pappu, an accused in the Delhi serial blasts case and the Batla House encounter, is a major breakthrough for investigating agencies. These agencies are now trying to ascertain whether Pappu had undergone a pilot training course in Bengaluru.

Pappu is reportedly a member of the Indian Mujahideen, which operates under the aegis of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayiba, and he had played a key role in planning the Delhi serial blasts in September, 2008. 

Investigators suspect that it was Pappu who had shot M C Sharma, the senior police officer who lost his life during the encounter at Batla House in Delhi.

Investigating agencies are now trying to find out if Pappu had taken a course in pilot training in Bengaluru and whether the Indian Mujahideen and the LeT are planning a 9/11-type attack in India. The police are trying to find out whether other personnel from the terror outfit also underwent similar training.

Based on this information, intelligence agencies have sounded an alert against a possible airborne attack.

Meanwhile, several Muslim organisations from Azamgarh have condemned Pappu's arrest. A publication in the Milli Gazete suggests that approximately 25 armed plainclothes men arrived in Azamgarh at 3.30 pm on Monday and barged into the house of Niyaz Ahmed, who is Pappu's grandfather. The policemen reportedly dragged Pappu out.

Local residents immediately approached the police and they were told that Pappu had been held for his alleged role in the Batla House encounter.