Muhammad Yasin Bhat, alleged prime conspirator of the 2002 Akshardham Temple attack here, was arrested by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad from Anantnag in south Kashmir on Friday, an official said.
Thirty-three persons, including a National Security Guard(NSG) commando, died when two attackers opened fire inside the Akshardham templecomplex here on September 24, 2002.
The two attackers were gunned down by NSG commandos.
Bhat, an alleged operative of Lashkar-e- Taiba, had fled toPakistan-administered Kashmir (PaK) after the attack, according to officials.
He was nabbed following a tip-off that he had returned toJammu and Kashmir and was working at a timber warehouse in Anantnag, theGujarat Home Department said in a release.
The arrest was made with the help of local police, it added.
After obtaining his transit remand from a court there, theATS team arrived with Bhat at the Ahmedabad airport on Friday evening, therelease added.
As per the ATS, Bhat played a key role in hatching theconspiracy to attack the temple, and also supplied arms and ammunition,including AK-47 assault rifles, to other accused who had come to Ahmedabad bytrain from Uttar Pradesh.The Supreme Court, in May 2014, acquitted sixpersons arrested earlier in the case, including three who were facing deathsentence.