Bangalore police commissioner MN Reddi has announced the arrest of three suspected IM operatives in Bhatkal and Bengaluru from whom a large cache of explosives and bomb making equipment has been recovered. The arrests and recoveries, which were made On the basis of a tip off, have not yet been linked to the December 28 Church Street blast.
The first two - Syed Ismail Afaq (34) and Saddam Hussain (35) - were arrested in the Pulakeshinagar area of Bengaluru city. The third - Abdus Subur (24), an MBA student - was arrested in Bhatkal. All the three men are natives of Bhatkal and they were arrested on Thursday morning in simultaneous operations.
Addressing a press conference late on Thursday evening, police Commissioner MN Reddi said that no connection has yet emerged between these arrests and the December 28 church street blast.
Reddi said a large quantity of amonium nitrate, detonators, electronic timer devices, digital circuits, circuit making material, PVC pipes, gel based explosive material and fuel oil were recovered from the Tenganagundi area of Bhatkal town in Karwar district.
"Prima Facia we have no evidence to show that this recovery was connected to the Bengaluru blast case," Redsi said.
{{/usCountry}}"Prima Facia we have no evidence to show that this recovery was connected to the Bengaluru blast case," Redsi said.
{{/usCountry}}He said that the raid in Pulakeshinagar yielded "communication equipment" as well as regular mobiles and laptops. He said the nature and make of the communication equipment is being investigated.