3 suspected IM men arrested in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: The Bengaluru city police and the state’s internal security division, on Thursday, claimed that three Indian Mujahideen operatives were arrested with large quantities of material used in explosives. There is apparently no similarity between the explosives seized and those used in the December 28 blast on Church Street.

City Police Commissioner M N Reddi told reporters that Syed Ismail Afaq (34), Saddam Hussein (35) and Abdus Subur (24) were taken into custody. All three are from Bhatkal although the Afaq and Hussein lived in the city. Subur, an MBA student, was picked up in Bhatkal.

In their house in Cox Town, the police found “incriminating material” such as communication equipment, cellphones and laptops. Following this find, they raided a house in Bhatkal town and seized 3 Kg of explosives, detonators, electronic timing devices, digital circuits, circuit-making material, PVC pipes, gel-based explosive material and fuel oil. The explosive substances, police believe, were meant to be used in improvised explosive devices (IED).

Reddi said that all the seized equipment sent to forensics examination. All three are suspected to be members of the banned outfit IM and they were in regular interaction with other members of the banned organisations.