Three men who had served jail terms for abetting terror strikes in India in 2000 got away from the lone policeman guarding them on Friday.
The men, said to be Pakistanis, were involved in at least eight bomb blasts in Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi’s Jama Masjid in 1999, police said.
They were arrested on October 28, 2000 along with five others on charges of possessing 15 kg of RDX and 45 kg of narcotic substances. They had recently completed their jail sentences of five years and were to be deported to Pakistan. In the interim, they were being held at the Lampur detention centre in Narela.
On Friday, the three, identified as Abdul Razzak, Mohammad Sadiq and Rafaqat Ali, all in their 30s, had come to the Guru Nanak Eye Centre in central Delhi for check up.
“Around 2.30 pm on Friday, the three Pakistanis went to a roadside eatery in the Kotwali area after their medical check up to have lunch. They did not return to the detention centre. On Saturday we registered a case,” said Karnal Singh, joint commissioner of police.
Dina Moni Singh, a Sub Inspector of Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB), was accompanying the trio. A case of jumping restraint orders was registered under the Foreigners Act at Kotwali police station.
“These men are quite dangerous,” said an officer who arrested them in 2000.
The Union Home Ministry has issued an alert.