Central Crime Branch (CCB) that busted an alleged terror module in Bengaluru, has taken custody of T. Nazir, accused in the 2008 Bengaluru serial bomb blasts and 34 other terror cases. He allegedly radicalised a gang of career criminals in Parappana Agrahara Central prison, who in turn put together the alleged module. The court has remanded him into 8 days of police custody.
Given that the alleged kingpin of the module, Junaid Ahmed, is still at large, and the five arrested from Bengaluru are reportedly foot soldiers with no idea of the larger picture, the police are relying heavily on T. Nazir to provide them insights into the alleged terror plot.
“The five arrested persons seem to know little of the larger conspiracy. All they do is point fingers at Junaid, whom we are yet to nab. Given that Junaid is abdconding, it is only Nazir who can give us some leads. We are also looking into the possibility of Junaid having other handlers, apart from Nazir, and in that case, whether Nazir put him onto them,” a senior official said.
Officers with past experience of interrogating Nazir said he is a hard nut to crack.
Tadiyantavide Nazir hails from Kerala. He was allegedly the south India commander of Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba. He was arrested on the Indo-Bangladesh border in 2009, in connection with the 2008 serial blasts case, and was later accused of involvement in 34 terror cases. He was living in Kodagu district of Karnataka in the mid-2000s, cultivating ginger as a cover for his alleged terror activities.
Possible courier identified, suspect has likely fled the country
Investigations so far have led the police to suspect that a man named Salman, also a member of the gang, had delivered arms and ammunition to the five arrested persons. Police have recovered 7 country-made pistols, 42 rounds of live ammunition, 4 live grenades and walkie-talkie sets from the 5 persons arrested in Bengaluru.
“We have identified one person who we suspect was transporting arms and ammunition, which were organised by Junaid Ahmed, who is based outside India. But we are yet to confirm it,” a senior official said.
Salman is suspected to have fled India via the porous Nepal-India border. A senior official refused to reveal whether the suspect might have fled the country after the CCB busted the alleged terror module, or before.
“We are making all efforts to track him down,” a senior official said.
