Al-Umma men under scanner in TN

Following the April 17 Bangalore blast, the Tamil Nadu police are keeping an eye on former Al-Umma activists, especially those who were released after serving their sentences in the February 1998 Coimbatore serial blasts case. The banned outfit had orchestrated the blasts.

The development came in the wake of the arrest of former Al-Umma activist Kitchen Buhari, 38, in Madurai.

Over 45 accused in the Coimbatore serial blasts case are believed to be living in and around Chennai after completing their jail terms.

Five more suspects in the Bangalore blast case were reportedly picked for questioning by National Investigation Agency (NIA) sleuths in Chennai on Wednesday. A senior police official, however, told Deccan Herald that no such arrests were made.

Denying the reports, he pointed out three suspects arrested in the case, including Buhari, were taken to Bangalore. Even the Karnataka Police team was not in Chennai, he added.

Meanwhile, Buhari’s wife Jameela Banu has filed a habeas corpus petition in a Madras High Court bench in Madurai, seeking to produce her husband before the court. Banu stated in her petition that Buhari, a coordinator with NGO Charitable Trust For Minorities, has been assisting senior lawyers in the Coimbatore blasts case.

He was supposed to travel with them to Delhi as an appeal against the High Court verdict in the case was to come up in the Supreme Court. The NGO provides legal assistance to “innocent Muslim prisoners.”

Banu said the special investigation team (SIT) probing the case had grilled her husband a few days ago.

She claimed that Buhari had explained to the SIT personnel that he was innocent and had nothing to do with the case. Despite his plea, Buhari was taken into custody. The family does not know his whereabouts, which prompted the habeas corpus petition.