UP blast accused arrested at Santa Cruz

Mumbai Crime Branch and the UP Special Task Force (STF) on Tuesday arrested the man who allegedly set off the July 12 Allahabad bomb blast to kill UP minister Nand Gopal Gupta. Identified as Anand Shandilya, the accused was arrested from Santa Cruz airport on Tuesday morning.

Minister for Institutional Finance, Stamp and Judicial Tax in the Mayawati government, Gupta was seriously injured when a bomb kept on a scooter near a temple he was visiting exploded. The blast killed an Indian Express journalist and one of Gupta’s bodyguards, but the minister survived.

UP STF investigations later found that the attempt on Gupta’s life was masterminded by Samajwadi Party leader Dilip Mishra while he was lodged in Allahabad jail.  “Shandilya was the man who was used by Mishra to set off the bomb through a remote as soon as Gupta came near the scooter,” said Crime Branch chief Himanshu Roy.

While Gupta survived, two others were killed in the July 12 blast

While Mishra was arrested a week after the incident from Allahabad jail, Shandilya was on the run. “He had come to Mumbai only three days ago and had been staying on railway platforms to avoid being found by the police. He avoided staying in a hotel because police routinely check hotels for suspicious elements.

The UP STF had been tracking his cellphone and had information that he was going to Santa Cruz airport to receive money from some person. They asked for our help in the matter and together we arrested him from the airport,” said a Crime Branch officer.

Roy said, “Shandilya is a notorious criminal and has several cases of attempt to murder, extortion and robbery registered against him in UP and Madhya Pradesh.”

The blast has been closely linked with Mumbai and Maharashtra in the past too as Mishra had taken shelter in the state before he was arrested by the UP police. Mishra had been hiding in Mira Road during April-May, after Gupta had filed a complaint against him and police was looking for him. From Mumbai, he went to Nagpur, from where he was arrested on May 8 after he had an altercation at a restaurant.

Following this he was lodged in Allahabad jail where he met some criminals and planned the murder of Gupta as vengeance. “We are yet to arrest one more person, who had assembled the bomb, in this case,” said an officer.