Salim Mukim Khan alias Abu Amaar alias Arif, a native of Hathgaon in Fatehpur district of Uttar Pradesh, was nabbed in a joint operation by anti-terrorism squads of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh police when he arrived at the international airport from the UAE, he said.
Salim, facing lookout notice, was stopped at an immigration counter on the intervening night of July 16 and 17 and taken into custody, the official said.
Eight persons, including some CRPF jawans, were killed in the terror strike.
Salim was also a financier of suspected ISI agent Aftab Ali, who was arrested in May in Faizabad by Uttar Pradesh ATS, he added.
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While being abroad, he had been in contact with Aftab and gave instructions to him about terror activities and funding, the official said.
Aftab had been in constant touch with the Pakistan High Commission and had gathered information about several defence establishments in UP, he said.
The duo had claimed that Salim, along with them, had received terrorist training at a camp in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, in 2007, the official said.
After the Rampur attack, a case was registered under relevant sections of the IPC, the Arms Act, the Explosive Substances Act, the Explosives Act and the Foreigner Registration Act, he said.
Initial inquiry by the Maharashtra ATS indicated that Salim was suspected to be associated with Pakistan-based terror outfit LeT, the official said.
The Maharashtra ATS is extending all cooperation to its UP counterpart for Salim's interrogation, the official added.
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