The 3-year hunt for one of the most wanted fugitives to have emerged from Hyderabad ended on Wednesday, with the arrest of terror operative Viqaruddin.
The terrorist was nabbed in Secunderabad from the house of a Unani doctor in Chilkalguda, following the disclosure by another terror suspect in police custody about his whereabouts.
According to information filtering in from police sources, the police picked up Viqaruddin and his accomplice Sulaiman.
Police sources say that Viqaruddin's brother Najibullah and a Unani doctor named Haneef were picked up earlier in the month and thoroughly interrogated.
The 2 broke finally broke down under intense police pressure and revealed the whereabouts of Viqaruddin.
Viqaruddin was wanted for 3 separate attacks on security personnel. 2 of his attacks resulted in the deaths of 2 policemen.
The former Students Islamic Movement Of India (SIMI) activist had been on the run after shooting an Intelligence Official at Santoshnagar on December 3, 2008.
He seemingly vanished from the face of the earth and resurfaced again on May 18, 2009, when he shot dead a Home Guard Balaraju at Falaknuma police outpost.
The police had launched a massive manhunt to trace the perpetrator of the cowardly attack on unarmed police pickets, but the efforts were met with no success.
Rumours about him escaping to neighbouring Karnataka were floated even as the police had intensified patrolling and security checks.
On December 13 this year, Viqaruddin resurfaced and attacked a police picket near Volga Hotel in Shah Ali Banda, killing Andhra Pradesh Special Police constable Ramesh on picket duty, before fleeing. He dropped a CD which claimed that the attack was part of revenge for the bomb blast and the subsequent police firing at the historic Mecca Masjid which claimed the lives of 14 worshippers.
The CD contained a letter, in the name of Tehreek Ghalba-e-Islam, owning responsibility for the attack.
Viqaruddin carried a reward of Rs. 5 lakh on his head. According to reports, 2 guns were recovered from the terrorists' possession.