Bangalore blast: Six arrested from Tamil Nadu for allegedly facilitating the attack

Mangalore Today/NDTV

Chennai,April 23, 2013: Six men have been arrested from Tamil Nadu in connection with the April 17 Bangalore blast that took place near the BJP’s office in the city. Sources in the police say those arrested allegedly facilitated the main accused who triggered the blast. Six of them identified as Basheer, Moideen, Kichan Buhari and Mohmed Saleem from Chennai and Basheer and Veer Mohamed Saleem from Thirunalveli. Police now hope to find more leads by questioning them.

Sources in the Tamil Nadu police say the three arrested men are residents of Bangalore, but were hiding in Chennai and Madurai. They will now be taken to Bangalore and produced in a court there.

Initial leads which led to their arrest came from the stolen motorcycle that was used in the blast.  The motorcycle had a Tamil Nadu licence plate, which turned out to be fake. Its owner was traced by the Tamil Nadu police.

Because the motor cycle was sold several times over, each transaction was looked at carefully and those involved were questioned, sources said.

Officials of the NIA had also examined the footage from the closed circuit television cameras installed in the vicinity of the BJP office to identify the persons who parked the motorbike with explosives there.

The explosion occurred on Wednesday, the last day for filing nominations for the Karnataka assembly elections to be held on May 5, when many workers and candidates were expected to be at the party office.