Bangalore police arrest 2 suspected terrorists

Bangalore, May 8: A suspected

operative was arrested by Bangalore city police in

on Sunday in connection with the blast near the Chinnaswamy Stadium here in April 2010 injuring 15 persons.

Mohammad Khafeel, an associate of Yasin Bhatkal, a top operative of the Indian Mujahideen (IM), was arrested at Darbhanga (Bihar), City Police Commissioner Jyothi Prakash Mirji told reporters here today. Two low-intensity explosions near a packed Chinnaswamy cricket stadium less than an hour before an IPL match on April 17, 2010, had left 15 persons, including five security men injured.

Mirji said police have also arrested here yesterday Syed Abdul Rehman alias Abdul Rehman (25) who is suspected to belong to the banned militant outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba. Khafeel was produced before a local court in Ranchi (Jharkhand) and is currently in police custody. With this, the number of arrested in connection with the cricket stadium bomb blast case has risen to seven. Khafeel, a teacher in Al Ajari school in Darbhanga was preaching Jihad to young Muslims, Mirji said.

He along with Yasin Bhatkal and other IM operatives Riyaz Bhatkal, Iqbal Bhatkal and Mohsin Choudhary and six others had hatched a conspiracy to carry out bomb blasts in important places in India including at Chinnaswamy stadium. During the investigation, it was revealed that Khafeel had provided a SIM card and mobile phone to Yasin Bhatkal, Mirji said.

PTI