Cops grill 2 in B’luru over missing fundamentalists

The trio, including C Khaja Moideen (49), the self-styled state head of IS, all accused in the murder of Hindu Munnani leader Suresh Kumar in Ambattur in 2014, are now believed to be holed up in Bangladesh.

Sources here said that two men, who were in touch with the missing suspects over phone, were taken to a safe house in Bengaluru where they were being questioned for more than two days.

The police believe that Khaja Moideen, along with his associates A Mohammed Shameem alias Abdul Shameem (26) and N Syed Ali Nawaz (27) of Kanniyakumari, could have possibly escaped to the neighbouring country.

According to sources, the team zeroed in on a person who helped Moideen to get a SIM card. Then, they tracked the signal from the phone used by Moideen, and found it to be located across the border. While monitoring the phone, the sleuths came to know that Moideen was in touch with two persons in Bengaluru, who were soon picked up for inquiry.

Tamil Nadu police had already alerted their counterparts in Karnataka and Maharashtra about the missing men, as they can be dangerous and could even be plotting to trigger ‘incidents’ in those states. The police here have not ruled out the possibility of the missing militants procuring arms from across the border and return to India.

The men, who were accused in the murder of the Hindu Munnani leader, last attended the hearing of the case in November. Soon after they became aware that the trio had escaped from the police radar, the State police had increased security for religious leaders in the Tamil Nadu. The city police have also announced reward for any tip-off leading to their arrest.