Karnataka terror plot- Dubai bound Bhatkal native picked up

Updated: Sunday, January 11, 2015, 14:23 [IST]

The Bengaluru police has picked up a resident of Bhatkal from the Mangalore airport in connection with the investigations into an ongoing terror plot. Riyaz Ahmed Sayyidi aged 32 was picked up by the police from the Mangalore airport late last night when he was about to board a flight to Dubai.

Sayyidi is a resident of the Maqdoom Colony in Bhatkal and is believed to be connected to the three other persons the police had arrested last week in connection with a terror plot.

Arrest on basis of investigation:

Sources tell oneindia that the arrest was carried out following the interrogation of Syed Ismail Aafaque (34), Abdus Sabur (23) and Saddam Hussain (35). The trio were picked up after the police suspected that they could have been in touch with a handler in the United Arab Emirates.

The police had also recovered a large cache of arms from them in Bhatkal. It is said that they were planning a major strike in Karnataka.

Church Street blast role probed:

The Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru city M N Reddi said that prima facie they have not stumbled upon anything relating to the Bengaluru Church Street blast. He however added that they are ruling nothing out and are probing this angle as well.

The police are trying to ascertain whether these persons were in touch with Sultan Armar the UAE based recruiter for the Ansar-ul-Tawhid.

Bhatkal up in arms:

The residents of Bhatkal are miffed with the police and have termed the entire operation as fake. Several residents of Bhatkal staged protests demanding the release of these youth claiming that they were innocent.

The residents also raised several questions regarding the police investigation. They have accused the police of planting the explosives in the house of the accused.

Further they have stated that they had demanded that the explosives in the bag be shown to them. However the police are said to have refused and this has led to the residents doubting the veracity of the entire operation. They have threatened to intensify the protest.