Cadre of several proscribed North-Eastern militant groups are believed to be hiding in Bangalore.
This was revealed to police by Mohammed Islamuddin Khan, the General Secretary of the banned North-Eastern outfit, the People’s United Liberation Front (PULF), who was arrested in Mysore on Sunday.
Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports said two members of PULF were held in Bangalore on Monday.
Khan (43) alias Islamuddin was arrested by the Manipur police with the help from Mysore police on Sunday along with five other members of PULF — Mohammed Noor Safi alias Belal Khan, 33, Publicity Secretary; Mohammed Noor Zaman alias Deny, 40, Secretary, External Affairs; Mohammed Abdul Jabbar alias Belal Khan, 55, Organising Secretary; Mohammed Nasir Khan, 38, deputy commander in chief and Mohammed Mustafa alias Ajhahar, chief of army.
The PULF men had reportedly gathered in Mysore for a meeting. They were arrested from Gautam Lodge on Ashoka Road in Mysore. They thought that their presence in Mysore would go unnoticed given the city’s lack of air connectivity.
“PULF is a small outfit of 100-odd cadres. They have several cases against them in Manipur including for murder, kidnapping for ransom and extortion. Khan confessed that they have automatic weapons and hand-grenades. We did not, however, find any arms on them here,” said SP, Imphal, T H Radheyshyam, heading the Manipur police team.
No plan for Mysore
DCP, (Law & Order), Mysore V S D’Souza said the arrested militants had no plans to attack Mysore. “They had planned to visit Tippu’s tomb in Srirangapatna,” he added.
The arrested have been remanded to custody under ‘transit remand’ till May 5.
Khan is an MA in Economics and Mohammed Jabbar, an MBA and Urdu scholar. They are believed to be the think-tanks of PULF. Khan reportedly lives in a rented house in Ashwatnagar, Bangalore. His son is training in computer skills at an institute in Lingarajpuram.
PULF is one of several Manipur militant groups claiming to be espousing the cause of minorities against the dominant Meitei community.
