7 held in city may be linked to blast cases: Cops

A special team from Madurai arrested Mohammed Aaroon (27), Thoufiq Ali (24), Jiauddin (25), Seeni Alla Pichai (30), Farooq Abdulla (27), Mohammed Ali (27) and Siddique (24) from a private lodge at Triplicane.

According to police sources, the names of the accused were revealed by a Abu Bakkar Siddique who was arrested by the National Investigation Agency(NIA) in December 2016 in a Malappuram bomb blast case in Kerala.

During interrogation, Siddique allegedly said that he was involved in had previous bomb blasts and named his associates.

Siddique was also attacked recently after being released on bail for revealing the identity of his associates. When he was on his way to meet his brother Pichai Kani in fish street market, 10 men assaulted Siddique with beer bottles and wooden logs. He managed to escape and took shelter in Vilakuthoon police station.

Based on his complaint, the Vilakuthoon Police had filed a case against one Sayed and nine others. Then, the special team received the information that a gang suspected to be involved in the attack was hiding in lodge at Triplicane.

After keeping an eye on them for a day, the police barged into the lodge and had arrested them, claimed sources. The police suspect except Jiauddin, the rest were involved in various bomb cases in Tirunelveli and Madurai.