Police exploring local angle in blast case

Investigation into the Malleswaram blast case is still in its nascent stage. “Only ten per cent of the investigation is complete and a lot needs to be done,” a senior police official said.

He said though there has been a definite breakthrough, it was a complex case. “It is not possible that the three arrested are the only ones behind the conspiracy. There are many more players and we hope the interrogation of the three will lead us to the others involved in the conspiracy, planning and execution of the attack,” he said.

Confirming that the person who had parked the bike-laden with explosive at Malleswaram was not among the three arrested, sources said the three arrested might not have been in the City the day the blast was triggered. By the time the police arrived, they had already fled from their known addresses into hiding, they added.

Of the three, Peer Mohiddeen, 39, arrested from a lodge in Flower Bazaar area, Chennai, though hailing from Melapalayam, Tirunelveli, like the other two, was working in the City as a tea powder merchant for the past couple of years.

The police are investigating whether he was the link between the Tamil Nadu module and some sympathetic quarters in the City for harbouring them, reconnoitring the area, choosing the target, etc.

A senior official said even if the remnants of Al-Umma had regrouped or had been working for some other organisation, it would have been easy for them to choose a target there itself. He termed it intriguing that the module chose to target the BJP office in the City. He suspected that if the role of Mohiddeen was proved in the conspiracy, then it is possible that the choice of target was his.

The investigation is also proceeding along the lines as to whether the explosive material was procured from Tamil Nadu and transported to the City or it was procured locally and the IED assembled in City.

Sources said the Coimbatore serial bombings of 1998 also had a Karnataka link in that the explosive material was procured from Mavalli near Mysore.