Kerala gold heist: Terror suspects posed as sleuths

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 23: The arrest of Abdul Halim in a gold heist case has given the Kerala police several clues. First and foremost Halim's link to terrorist organisations has been unearthed.

Secondly the police realised that Halim and his accomplices had posed as vigilance officers and raided the house of a businessman at Peruvamboor, Ernakulam, Kerala.

On August 19, the house of a businessman was raided and gold worth Rs 13 lakh was seized. The businessman decided to complain to the police as he found the raid to be suspicious and upon investigation it was learnt that the gang of vigilance officials were a bunch of thieves.

Multiple dimensions

First and foremost the police learnt that Halim and his gang had targeted several other businessmen in the past while using the same modus operandi. The money that was made from their operations are suspected to have been used to fund a terror module in Kerala. Further, it was also learnt that they were trying to get some of their accomplices out of jail.

What has startled the police is that these persons are not just run-of-the-mill robbers. They have clear links to terrorists and their modules.

Halim is said to be close to T Nasir who was involved in the Bengaluru blasts case. Nasir was arrested in 2009. Further, it was also found that Halim's accomplice, Annas was involved in the deadly Kochi bus burning case of 2005.

The Kerala police say that they are probing further into this matter. "So far we are working on the leads that we have got and we are confident of getting more details in this case. We will also have to question Nasir to get more information and a request for the same would be placed," the officer said.

The officer says that the gang that has been arrested was closely associated with Nasir who apart from the Bengaluru blast case was also involved in the bus burning incident.

OneIndia News