Bihar: One of 38 Ahmedabad blasts convicts lodged in Gaya jail

GAYA: One of the 38 convicts sentenced capital punishment on Friday in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts case is lodged in Gaya central jail. Tausif Pathan was caught and handed over to the police by a cybercafe owner Anurag Basu at Rajendra Ashram in Gaya town on September 13, 2017.
Tausif was lodged in Gaya central jail on September 15, 2017. He was deported to Ahmedabad on November 27, 2017 but had been brought back to Gaya jail on March 9, 2020.Since then, he is serving jail term here.
Anurag, a martial art trainer, had suspected Tausif’s activities. Tausif had tried to escape but Anurag chased and caught him on the road and handed over to the police.
“Tausif was produced online before the special court on Friday. He has been lodged in a high-security cell. The jail administration is alert and his activities are being closely monitored. In the jail manual, too, there are certain guidelines for the convict of capital punishment. The guidelines of jail manual are being followed here,” Gaya central jail superintendent Vijay Kumar Arora told this newspaper on Saturday.
The mastermind of Ahmedabad serial blasts, Tausif had similar plans in Gaya during the Pitripaksh mela, when devotees from across the country congregate in the town to perform 'pinddaan' rituals. The world famous Vishnupad temple and the CRPF camp in Gaya were on his target.
Along with Tausif, police had arrested two more persons -- Gulam Sarwar and Sanne Khan — for giving him shelter in Gaya. While Sarwar is out on bail, Sanne is serving jail term in Gaya jail.
Tausif had been living in Gaya since 2009 and working as a teacher in the private school of Sarwar at village Karmauni under Dobhi block of the district. He was planning to set up a sleeper cell of terrorist organization Indian Mujahideen. After his arrest, intelligence agencies of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat besides officials of RAW, special branch, military intelligence had interrogated Tausif.