BANGALORE: In a major breakthrough, the Bangalore City police arrested Kamal Hasan, 24, who moved around in various aliases like Bilal, Billu and Kalu, from Kolkata on Tuesday in connection with the bomb blast near Chinnaswamy Stadium on April 17, 2010.
According to the official sources, Hasan was reportedly produced before a court which remanded him in police custody for two weeks. Hasan belongs to Balha village of Madhubani district in Bihar. The Karnataka police were on the look-out for the kingpin, Mohd Ahmed Siddibapa Zarar alias Yasin Bhatkal, of the case. During search operations, the police nabbed Kamal Hasan, who was also apparently a part of the blast conspiracy.
“The accused was brought to Bangalore amid security and produced before the jurisdictional magistrate on Thursday, who remanded him in police custody,” said DCP (Crime) T M Krishnam Raju. The twin blasts took place outside Chinnaswamy Stadium before an IPL match in 2010. It was said that Indian Mujahideen operatives triggered the blast as “Pakistani cricketers were left out of the IPL”.
“Kamal is a member of IM’s Bihar cell and a close associate of Zarar, who is in-charge of IM’s Urban Operations in India. Kamal was part of the conspiracy hatched in Bihar and Delhi in 2009, of which the Chinnaswamy Stadium blasts were a fraction,” Bangalore City Police Commissioner Jyothi Prakash Mirji said in a press release.
Mirji said, “Kamal is settled at Nabi Karim, New Delhi for more than a decade. He was involved in bag stitching business. He was introduced to Yasin Bhatkal by Mohd Qateel Siddiqui and Gauhar Aziz Khomeni in Delhi in 2009, where they conspired to trigger blasts at Chinnaswamy Stadium and other places. Qateel and Gauhar, also hailing from Bihar, are already arrested.” Kamal Hasan was indoctrinated into Jehadi activities by Yasin Bhatkal and was asked to provide logistical support, which meant looking for hideouts in Bihar and New Delhi for all the IM operatives involved in the stadium blast as well as the attack on Jama Masjid in Delhi on September 19, 2010, Mirji added.
Stating that Kamal was an expert in preparing ammunition/cartridges used in firearms, Mirji said Hasan worked in Irshad Khan’s (father-in-law of Yasin Bhatkal, who was arrested) weapon factory at Mir Vihar, New Delhi, on the instructions of Yasin Bhatkal.
“Efforts are on to nab Yasin Bhatkal,” Mirji added.