JOIN USThe arrest of a man in Bihar by Karnataka police in connection with a blast case in Bangalore has raised the hackles in the eastern state.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday took strong exception to the manner in which the Karnataka police arrested the suspect. “Whether the arrested suspect is guilty or innocent has to be decided by the court, but this is a brazen violation of the rule of the law where the cops of a different state arrested a suspect without informing the Bihar police,” he said.
A suspected Indian Mujahideen operative, Mohammed Kafil Akthar, 26, an allegedly co-conspirator in the April 17, 2010, Chinnaswamy Stadium blast case was arrested in Barasamela in Darbhanga, by a special team of the Central Crime Branch, Bangalore, on Sunday.
“I have asked the Bihar DGP to talk to the Karnataka DGP and lodge a strong protest over this kind of unwarranted move,” Nitish said and added that this was not the first time that the police from a different State arrived here and arrested someone on suspicion charge without intimating the local police.
“Of late, a bad precedence (of not informing the local police) has been set. This is precisely why I raised this issue even during the meeting convened for the proposed NCTC in New Delhi recently,” said Nitish. He added that once he gets the full factual report on the issue, he would apprise the Union Home Minister too and ask him to ensure that such violation of rules do not recur.
Reacting to Nitish Kumar’s statement, A R Infant, Karnataka DG&IGP in-charge, told Deccan Herald, “In the normal circumstances, informing the local police is considered a courtesy. But we believe the situation was extraordinary.”
Infant said the State police team had been to Bihar in search of the arrested man a week back and he had escaped the net. “The information had somehow leaked. He was hiding in his native village. May be the team did not want to mess up the operation again. And moreover, he was a religious teacher and our team also had fears of a public outcry.”
However, he said, the police team had duly informed the local police after the arrest was made. “Our team is yet to arrive to the city. I will talk to them and also the Bihar DGP and sort out the matter,” he added.
The Bangalore police action in arresting a blast suspect from a village in Darbhanga is not the first instance that blast suspects have been nabbed from North Bihar districts.
Five years back, the Anti-terrorist squad (ATS) of Maharashtra flew down to Patna in a special IAF aircraft IL-76 and arrested two militants — Kamal Ahmad Ansari and Khalid Sheikh - from a remote village in Madhubani district of Bihar in July 2006.
The two Pakistani modules were wanted for their involvement in 7/11 Mumbai train serial blasts.