Kushinagar Mosque Blast: UP Police Detain Ex-Army Doctor For Evidence Tampering In The Case

A former army major, Dr Ashfaq Alam, was arrested by Uttar Pradesh’s Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) from Hyderabad’s Old city area and taken to Lucknow for interrogation in relation to the Kushinagar mosque explosion case, reports Times of India.

Dr Alam was in Kushinagar at the time of blast and is accused of tampering with the evidence and criminal conspiracy. He is the sixth person to be nabbed in relation with the case.

The doctor is the grandson of one of the key accused in the case Haji Qutubuddin, who is charged with stashing explosives in the mosque in a bag. Reportedly, Dr Alam served in Army Medical Corps till 2017 and then took a voluntary retirement to prepare for Civil Services Examination.

UP additional DGP (ATS) Dhruva Kant Thakur told TOI: “Dr Alam called up police about an explosion in a mosque, citing short-circuit in the invertor’s battery. By the time police arrived, the doctor had fled along with Qutubuddin.”

Forensic reports had earlier confirmed that the explosion was caused by explosives stored in the mosque. Initially, it was believed that the blast was caused by an explosion in an inverter battery.

As per police Dr. Alam’s grandfather Qutubuddin has several cases against him, including that of promoting communal strife.

In an interview with The Hindu, Kushinagar Superintendent of Police Vinod Kumar Mishra said that Qutubuddin procured over 10 kg of low-intensity explosives in April this year and stored them in the mosque.

“He was planning to plant the explosives in a temple, whose land was donated by their family members. A court case connected to the encroachment of a portion of land not given by the family members is pending,” the officer said.

The blast took place in Bairagai Patti village on Monday (11 November) afternoon. The explosion was strong enough to rip apart doors and windows in the mosque, say reports.

During interrogation, the cleric, Maulana Azmuddin, admitted that he and some other youths had kept the explosives in the mosque.