The South Indian commander of a terror outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), Mohd Amjad alias Khaja, has been taken into custody by Andhra Pradesh Police, a senior police official said on Monday.

Khaja, said to be a close aide of Mohammed Abdul Shahed alias Bilal, a self-styled commander of HuJI, was made as South Indian in-charge to carry out terror activities after the suspected killing of Bilal in a shoot-out in Karachi in Pakistan during 2007.

Khaja was nabbed in Chennai through a joint operation by Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal Police and Central agencies based on the information given by arrested HuJI operatives in Kolkatta recently, the police official said.

The HuJI terrorist, said to be a native of Hyderabad, was operating his activities from Bangladesh and allegedly conspired to unleash terror on Republic Day either at Chennai or Hyderabad, he said.

Khaja was allegedly involved in the blasts in Mecca Masjid and twin blasts in Hyderabad during 2007 besides conspiring terror attacks in Ajmer Shareef and Jaipur and was also suspected to be an accused in the "failed" conspiracy to eliminate BJP leader Indrasen Reddy in 2004.