NIA officer shot dead

Bijnor/New Delhi: A National Investigation Agency (NIA) officer, probing terror cases related to Indian Mujahideen, was on Sunday shot dead by two unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants who also wounded his wife when they were returning home from a wedding near UP's Bijnor town.

In a "planned attack", the killers pumped 24 bullets at 45-year-old Mohd Tanzil Ahmad and four at his wife Farzana, as their daughter, 14, and son, 12, watched the gruesome incident from the back seat of the Wagon-R car they were travelling in, police said, adding the children were not injured.

Late in the evening, NIA IG Sanjeev Kumar said Farzana was "out of danger. There is no damage to her vital organs. She is recovering". "Ahmad was a brave officer who never hesitated in taking up any challenge. It is a big loss to NIA. We will rise to the occasion and both the NIA as well as the UP police has taken this as a challenge to bring the culprits before the law," he said.

Ahmad was returning home in Sahaspur village of Bijnor district with his family after attending his niece's wedding in another nearby village in the same district, which is about 150 km from Delhi. Police termed the killing of Ahmad, posted as Inspector initially with the NIA's intelligence wing and later in its investigation department, as a "planned attack" and did not rule out the possibility of a terror angle behind the shootout.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh told reporters in Lucknow that he had been apprised of the incident. "Whatever necessary is being done. We are talking (to NIA officials)," Singh said. Police suspect that Ahmad's movements were being tracked by the assailants who used at least one 9mm pistol in the attack.

"Tanzil Ahmad was shot dead by two motorcycle borne persons when he was returning after attending a marriage ceremony with his wife Farzana," IG (Law and Order) of UP Police Bhagwan Swaroop said. The incident took place at 12:45 am when Ahmed, earlier posted as an assistant commandant in BSF and on deputation to NIA, was returning to Sahaspur from the wedding ceremony.

Ahmad, who has been with the NIA ever since the organisation was formed in February 2009, had been investigating many cases especially related to the banned Indian Mujahideen terror outfit. His superiors termed him as a thorough professional in intelligence gathering as well as investigation. According to the police, Ahmad left his home in the evening along with his family to attend a marriage ceremony at a guest house at Sohara village. On their way back, their vehicle was stopped barely 200 metres from his home by two youths who fired at a very close range.