Bengaluru: Three Indian Mujahideen (IM) suspects have been arrested by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of Bangalore Police from Bhatkal. A large cache of explosives, bomb-making materials, circuitry and incriminating documents have been recovered from them. The three are being interrogated and they may be linked to the Church Street explosion that took place in December last year.
Bangalore Police Commissioner MN Reddi said the three IM operatives were arrested after a raid was conducted in a house in Bhatkal on the basis of a tip-off. "The circuitry material gave us leads on how they worked. It is a big module of IM," he said while talking to mediapersons in Bengaluru after the arrests.
Of the three arrested suspects, 34-year-old Syed Ismail Afaq and 35-year-old Saddam Hussain lived between Bengaluru and Bhatkal while 24-year-old Abdus Subbur is an MBA student.
"The three were members of IM. They were in touch with other members of the organisation. They were working on someone else's direct instruction. A lot of incriminating materials have been found from the three," the Police Commissioner said.
The articles seized from the raided house include laptops, cell phones, ammonium nitrate, gelatin gel form detonators, electronic timer devices, PVC pipes and fuel oil.
"The three have been arrested under Explosives Act, IPC 121 a and 120 b. Forensic examination of the materials is yet to be done," Reddi said.
Reddi further said so far no link has been established with the Church Street blast that took place on December 28 in Bengaluru in which one woman was killed and several were injured. "But we are investigating that angle. They are likely to be related to the Chuech Street explosion," he said.
Further interrogation of the two IM operatives is going on to find out whether the three are linked to the Church Street blast killing 38-year-old woman, Bhavani. The blast was carried out by IED. The bomb blast had taken place in a busy area and during the winter holidays.
A high alert was sounded in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata in view of the blast in Bengaluru.
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