A day after arresting a man with suspected terror links, the sleuths of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) detained another person from Tamil Nadu’s Salem on Monday evening, officials said.
The detained person was identified as Adil alias Zuba. He has been brought to Bengaluru city and he is being interrogated, they added.
The first suspect, Akthar Hussain, who was on the central intelligence agency’s watch, was taken into custody on Sunday evening by the CCB from Bengaluru’s Tilak Nagar area.
A police officer, who didn’t wish to be named, said that Akthar used several social media and instant messaging apps to communicate with the members of the terrorist organisation Al Qaeda.
It was based on these inputs police tracked down Adil in Tamil Nadu. According to the CCB officials, Adil was staying in Bengaluru and was in constant touch with Akthar. However, a few days ago, he left for Salem. The reason for his movement was unknown.
According to Bengaluru police commissioner Pratap Reddy, interrogation of the suspects is underway. “There were inputs from central agencies. That was how the arrest was made. We have collected evidence regarding members of the radicalised groups in Bengaluru. An FIR has been registered in connection with the case. We can’t reveal any more details as of now. We will provide the details after we present the facts before the courts,” said Reddy.
CCB officials said that said Akthar has been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including charges of waging war against the country and under the sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). “We are working closely with the central agency to probe if there are more links to this network. We hope to get more information from the interrogation,” he said.
The prime suspect in the case, 23-year-old Akhtar, a native of Assam, was allegedly radicalised after watching videos and browsing radical content on the internet, officials said.
After his arrest, the CCB produced him before a special court, which remanded him to 10 days of police custody.
According to the officials, the accused was in constant touch with the terror organisation through his Telegram account and social media. Even though officials didn’t reveal specifics, they claimed that the accused and his associates were planning some nefarious action in their chats.
A CCB official said, “Akthar came to Bengaluru seven months ago and started working as a delivery partner at an online food delivery app. During this time, he was in constant touch with various organisations through social media sites and instant messaging apps. He had allegedly shown his interest in ‘jihad’, and he even planned to join an outfit in Jammu and Kashmir soon.”
On Sunday evening, around 30 police personnel raided Akhtar’s house and detained him. Police also conducted a search at his house for an hour and reportedly found evidence, particulars of which were not shared by the CCB.
Meanwhile, Karnataka police have begun collecting information on the people with whom alleged Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Talib Hussain, who was arrested in the city on June 3, was in touch and officers in the know of the developments said last Friday.
Hussain was arrested from Bengaluru’s Okalipuram area in a joint operation by Jammu and Kashmir Police and Rashtriya Rifles. The accused is a resident of the Kishtwar district in Jammu and Kashmir and is believed to be an active member of Hizbul Mujahideen since 2016, state police officials said.
