Suspected J

Panaji, Mar 10 (UNI) A suspected J&K terrorist, moving under the suspicious circumstances at the busy Margao railway station, was taken into custody late this evening.

Search of his belongings, in the Mangala Express from New Delhi, resulted in seizure of two kg of a substance suspected to be deadly RDX explosive material, besides some handgrenades and detonators and a digital camera.

Deputy Inspector General of Police (crime) Ujjwal Mishra, on the basis of the intial information, told UNI that the bomb disposal squad and the crime branch CID was requisitioned to confirm whether the material was actually RDX and hand grenades.

He said the suspect, who claimed to be Tariq Anwar from Jammu and Kashmir, was frisked in the compartment and was found to possess the explosives. He was immediately taken into custody and rushed to Margao police station for interrogation.

''Verifying his antecedents would prove his identity and the purpose for which he came to Goa. We doubt, he is hiding his actual name and identity and it would be known only during the interrogation,'' Mr Mishra said.

The police had been kept on the red alert for possible strikes by the terrorist groups in Goa following a terrorist strike on the scientists in the Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Science (IISc) a month ago.

Police said he was suspected to have been trained in PoK and had been staying in Margao for the last six months. They are also verifying whether he had any hand behind the last week's large-scale disturbances in the twin towns of South Goa.

He had reportedly boarded the Mangala Express from Nizamuddin to reach here at about 2040 hrs when he was nabbed on suspicion by the prying cops. He, along with another suspect, were reportedly planning to strike somewhere in Goa.

The police in the state had been on high alert about the possible strikes at Mormugao Port, where several sensitive installations including the oil terminals/tanks, airport and the naval vessel building facility Goa Shipyard Limited are located, informed sources said.

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