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Osama Bin Laden arrested at Delhi railway station DIVYA VASISHT TIMES
NEWS NETWORK [ MONDAY, APRIL 01, 2002 3:19:12 PM ] Bin Laden, who tops the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) most-wanted list and who has managed to evade intensive combing operations by the US, was apprehended at 5:42 pm and subsequently booked under the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO). In what is being hailed as the most significant arrest ever made in the country, Bin Laden, who had booked a ticket under the name George W Bush, was nabbed on platform number 9 of the railway station while trying to board a train to Aligarh. According to sources in the crime branch of the city police, a tip-off by an anonymous caller led to the arrest of Bin Laden, who is wanted by various governments worldwide for his involvement in terrorist activities. ``An anonymous caller rang up the police station in the Kamala Market area on Sunday afternoon and hinted that Bin Laden might be present at the New Delhi railway station. Keeping in mind intelligence reports received over the past few days which indicated that Bin Laden's presence in the country was a strong possibility, we took the caller seriously and rushed police personnel to the railway station,'' reveals a senior crime branch official. Following a frantic -- ``yet thorough'' -- search of the New Delhi railway station, the police were finally able to track down two men who matched the physical description of Bin Laden. ``Actually, the first arrest we made turned to be a resident of Shalimar Bagh,'' says the police official. With the list of suspects narrowed down to one, seven police officials in uniform and four in plain clothes rushed to platform number 9 and cordoned off all possible escape routes. ``The suddenness of our arrival took Bin Laden by surprise. He was in no position to offer resistance,'' claims a senior police official. Bin Laden is reported to have broken down after intensive interrogation and revealed that the Al Qaeda, with logistical support from the Liberation of Tamil Tigers Ealam (LTTE), was fine-tuning a secret plan to blow up ``the most sensitive building in the country.'' Currently being cross-examined at a ``secret location,'' Bin Laden, according to the police, has admitted to his ``involvement'' in the September 11 attacks and admitted to ``close ties'' with militant organisations in Jammu & Kashmir. Incidentally, Bin Laden's arrest under POTO comes close on the heels of JKLF chairman Yaseen Malik being booked under the same legal provision. Senior officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), on their part, maintain that the investigative agency had ``definite information'' that Bin Laden was in Ghaziabad on February 25. ``However, Bin Laden was probably warned that we were on his trial and managed to give us the slip,'' says a CBI official. After receiving information that Bin Laden had been arrested in Delhi, the FBI is reported to have made desperate attempts to contact the Delhi Police and the ministry of external affairs. While it is clear that the FBI wants Bin Laden to be extradited to the US immediately, the Indian government's response to this request is not clear as of now. Meanwhile, the FBI is also believed to have contacted Interpol in an attempt to negotiate the conditions for Bin Laden's transfer to the US. |