BENGALURU: Central Crime Branch (CCB) sleuths, who seized four live hand grenades as part of the ongoing investigation into the terror module that was busted recently, confirmed that the grenades are of foreign make. It is learnt that the five arrested terror suspects had no knowledge of how to use them.
Police sources, however, said it is difficult to ascertain in which country the grenades were produced. The grenades, which were recovered from a house in Kodigehalli, have been sent to the forensic science laboratory for tests. A senior police officer, who is part of the investigation, said that while it is difficult to establish in which country the grenades were produced, the seized grenades will serve as strong evidence in the case.
Further, the officer said that none of the five suspects arrested -- Syed Suhel Khan, Mohammed Umar, Jahid Tabrez, Syed Mudassir Pasha and Mohammed Faisal -- knew how to use the grenade. “It is found that they had stocked the grenades at the behest of their handlers, but had no clue how to use them or any idea whether others would be receiving the grenades from them. They were just waiting for orders from their handlers,” the officer said. Also, police have found that all five persons arrested in the case have received funds from a Middle Eastern country. “The funds were transferred online to the bank accounts of the suspects, and all five have received a few lakhs of rupees,” the officer said.
Meanwhile, investigations are on to trace Junaid Ahmed, accused number two in the case, who is believed to be absconding in the Middle East. Also, the prime accused in the case and Lashkar-e-Taiba operative Thadiyantavide Nazeer, who is currently in police custody, is reportedly not cooperating with the investigation. Nazeer, an accused in the 2008 serial blasts in Bengaluru, was picked up after investigations revealed that he allegedly radicalised the other accused persons in the case. “We are questioning Nazeer to know whether others are involved in the case. But he is not revealing much,” the officer added.