Ahmedabad: The nation's security agencies tasted major success in their war on terror on the 10th anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks on Monday when a key accused in the 2002 attack on Gujarat's Akshardham temple was arrested.
Mohammed Farooq Shaikh, who had arranged funds for the attack, evaded arrest for 16 years, but was finally nabbed by the crime branch from the Ahmedabad airport on Monday, soon after his arrival from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, said assistant commissioner of police Bhagrithsinh Gohil.
Two armed terrorists had attacked the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar on September 24, 2002, killing 30 people and injuring eight others. The attack followed the Godhra riots in the same year.
"Shaikh lived in Juhapura before he fled to Riyadh in 2002 after the temple attack," the police official said.
With PTI inputs