Mysuru explosion: Bomb wrapped in a Malayalam daily

Mysuru, Aug 10: An IED wrapped in a Malayalam daily is now a subject matter of investigation in the Mysuru blast case. Last week, a bomb exploded in a toilet near the court premises at Mysuru in which one person was injured. The police say that this could be the handiwork of a group known as the Base Movement.

The name of this terrorist outfit, Base Movement cropped up first when it undertook blasts at Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh and Kollam in Kerala. The al-Ummah which has taken this name derived it from the al-Qaeda in the Sub-Continent which has the official name, Organisation of the Base of Jihad in the Indian Subcontinent or the Jamaat Qaidat al-jihad fi'shibhi al-qarrat al-Hindiya.

Bomb wrapped in Malayalam daily

The evidence that has been recovered from spot shows that the Improvised Explosive Device was wrapped in a Malayalam paper. The same has been sent for forensic analysis now by the Karnataka police.

Further there are several similaritiesbetween the blast at Mysuru and the ones that took place outside the courts at Chittoor (Andhra Pradesh) and Kollam (Kerala) on April 7 and June 15 respectively.

To begin with the blasts were all outside the courts. Further the timers and the explosive material are identical in all three cases.

While studying the motive behind the blasts, the police say that it could be possible that the group is sending a message to the courts. Five SIMI operatives including the dreaded Vikarrudin Ahmed who were facing trial in the court were killed in an encounter. There is a mention of this in one of the letters written by the Base Movement in the aftermath of the Chittoor blast.

The Karnataka police is contemplating seeking the government's nod to hand over the probe to the National Investigation Agency. It has inter-state ramifications and hence the NIA is the best agency to probe the case, the police feel.

The birth of the Base Movement

The al-Ummah which has been notorious in South India has rebranded itself as the Base Movement, both police and intelligence bureau officials say. The al-Ummah owes allegiance to the al-Qaeda.

In the aftermath of the Chittoor court blast, a letter had been sent out in which a group called as the Base Movement had claimed responsibility. In the letter a photograph of Osama Bin Laden too had been pasted.

When the al-Qaeda in the Sub-Continent was launched in 2014, it had stated that its official name would be Jamaat Qaidat al-jihad fi'shibhi al-qarrat al-Hindiya. This translated into English would mean Organisation of the Base of Jihad in the Indian Subcontinent. The name Base Movement appears to be derived from this, officials feel.

The al-Ummah operatives who largely operate in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka were under immense heat from both the police and the Intelligence Bureau. The renaming of the outfit as Base Movement only appears to be a ploy to lower that heat and confuse investigators.

OneIndia News