KOCHI: A brash act by the Base Movement backfired with the WhatsApp message sent by the outfit to the Kochi City Police Call Centre exposing its members involved in the blasts in Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in 2016. The cyber units of the NIA with the assistance of the state police zeroed in on the members after tracking certain mobile numbers for around two months.
According to an NIA officer, after the blast at the Malappuram Court in November 2016, the group had sent a WhatsApp message to the Kochi City Police claiming responsibility for the act. A mobile number ending in 474 was used for sending the message. Detailed investigation revealed the particular number was obtained under the fake ID of Andony Raja of Kalpakkam.
A phone with dual SIM card facility and having IMEI numbers ending in 630/20 and 2790 was used for the purpose. The probe also revealed three other numbers ending in 823, 159 and 722 were used in the phone with the IMEI number ending in 2790.
The investigators later found another number ending in 866 was also obtained using the fake ID card of Andony Raja. An analysis of the call details of the number ending in 866 revealed the user also handled numbers ending in 874 and 615 in a phone with IMEI ending in 600.When the blast took place at the Mysuru court on August 1, 2016, the location of this IMEI number was traced to Malappuram, and on August 2, it was in Madurai.
Keeping a tab of these mobile numbers revealed the number ending in 866 was used by Mohammed Ayub, the third accused in the case. After interrogating Ayub, sleuths got details about the second accused Samsun Karim Raja. The arrests of Samsun Karim Raja and Muhammad Ayub were recorded on November 11, 2016.