BENGALURU: The police in Bengaluru arrested five people who were allegedly plotting terror attacks, and seized seven pistols, 45 live cartridges, several walkie-talkies, daggers, and 12 mobile phones.
The suspects, identified as Syed Sohel Khan, Mohammed Umar, Jahid Tabrez, Syed Mudasir Pasha, and Mohammed Faisal, were arrested near a place of worship in the city on Tuesday while planning a major conspiracy, according to police sources.
“The Central Crime Branch succeeded in busting the anti-social forces and foiled their nefarious designs,” Bengaluru Commissioner B Dayananda told reporters on Wednesday.
The suspects were radicalised by the prime accused, T Nasir, an alleged LeT operative who is an accused in the 2008 Bengaluru serial bomb blasts case and is currently lodged in Parappana Agrahara Central Prison, along with Juned, who is holed up outside the country. Sources said these five had spent 18 months in jail in connection with a murder case and came out on bail.
The suspects were booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, waging war against the government of India, collecting arms to wage war, and hatching conspiracy under section 121 of the IPC, Dayananda said, adding that further probe would reveal how many of them are involved and with whom they are all linked.
“Their accomplice who is at large and is in a foreign country provided them all kinds of assistance with weapons and other equipment. He had given them the directions to carry out their activities in the city,” he added. They were produced in the NIA special court, which remanded them in seven days’ police custody.