Five held in Hubli for B'lore blasts

The new twist comes in the wake of a former Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) employee emerging as the mastermind behind the blasts that left 17 people injured and forced the shifting of the semi-final matches to Navi Mumbai. The city police had reportedly found some similarities in the April 17 blasts and the serial explosions that struck Bangalore in July 2008.

The Hubli arrests followed the CCB’s trail of a suspect who was travelling without ticket on a train from Bangalore to Gaziabad. The police reportedly took him into custody in Belgaum and interrogated him. He was brought to Hubli and, based on his information, four other ultras were nabbed, sources said. The suspects had booked two rooms—No 107 and No 109—at the Sriram Residency at Hosur Cross in the name of Sunil Rao and M Irfan on Sunday and Tuesday respectively. On a tip-off, the police raided the hotel and took the suspects into custody. It is said that a senior police officer in Hubli played a major role in zeroing in on the suspects.

One of the suspects is physically disabled. Some of them had Uttar Pradesh links. It was not immediately known whether they would be brought to Bangalore. The police have decided to subject the hotel management for a detailed examination.

Newspaper connection
The Hubli arrests assume significance since a newspaper published from Hubli was found at one of the sites where the explosives were hidden.

It is learnt that the police have decided to re examine video footages once the arrested are brought to Bangalore. The suspects might have planned to move towards Bhatkal from Hubli. The police will also investigate the possible Hubli link to the Bangalore blasts.

Meanwhile, efforts are on to find possible links between the Indian Mujahideen, whose operatives allegedly set off serial blasts in the City, and the former KSRP employee from Bhatkal in Mangalore.

On Tuesday, the police top brass was in a denial mode on the suspected involvement of the retired KSRP staff who, it is learnt, was examined by the police after detaining for questioning. A senior officer, however, said the investigators were keen to have the retired KSRP man as a witness since he was the “nucleus” of the plan to set off the crude bomb blasts outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
The police recovered about 4.2 kg of amonimum nitrate from the blast site and near places where the unexploded bombs were found.

A quarter kg of ammonium is required to explode a large boulder stone. A day after Pune police team visited the City and exchanged information about the twin blasts, a six-member team of the NIA, which is mandated with the task of probing all suspected terrorist actions, on Tuesday inspected the explosion sites here.

According to the police, the NIA team, led by Gujarat Anti-terrorist Squad chief Ajay Tomar, interacted with the police officers investigating the case. The team also looked into the security arrangements inside and outside the stadium. It inspected in detail various spots, including Gate No 12 and the area in front of Police Wireless Headquarters, where blasts took place on April 17. It also surveyed Gate No 8 where an explosive was found. The team also inspected the spot near Gate No 1 and the bus shelter close to Mahatma Gandhi Park.

Addressing a press conference in Bangalore, DGP Ajai Kumar Singh concealed more than he revealed, saying “certain rumours are baseless.” Singh was referring to the involvement of the former KSRP staff in the blasts.