Al Qaeda operative from Sambhal now in Pakistan jail

An alleged operative of terror outfit Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and wanted by the Delhi Police, is now lodged in Pakistan’s Lahore Central Jail, the Uttar Pradesh police said on Saturday. A senior officer identified the person as Mohammad Usman, who hails from Sambhal.

The matter came to light when a team of Sambhal police visited Usman’s house in Deepa Sarai, Sambhal, following a request from a central agency to verify his address, said the SP, Sambhal, Krishan Kumar.

The Sambhal police have not yet confirmed how long he has been in jail or the charges against him. However, the SP said that Usman was granted consular access in December last year.

His family claimed to the UP Police that Usman has been missing since 2012 as he has not returned home since then.

According to the Sambhal police, the Delhi Police special cell registered an FIR in 2015, naming Usman as an accused along with 16 others. Police claimed that Usman and some of his associates from Deepa Sarai had reportedly joined AQIS.

SP Kumar said that when Usman remained absconding, the Delhi Police declared him a fugitive in 2016. The Sambhal police added that they have information about Usman’s associate, Maulana Asim Umar, known to Indian security agencies as Sanaul Haq, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan’s Helmand province in September 2019. Asim Umar was also a resident of Deepa Sarai in Sambhal.

Usman is unmarried and his parents are dead. His three brothers continue to live in Deepa Sarai. Usman has been on the run since December 2015, when the Delhi Police conducted