HUBBALLI: The Internal Security Division (ISD) of the state police on Monday detained Mohammed Sadiq Kuppelur (39) in connection with the recent killing of Hindu Samaj Party leader Kamlesh Tiwari in Uttar Pradesh. Sadiq, a resident of Aravind Nagar in old Hubballi, is employed as a mechanic at the Hubballi Railway Carriage Repair Workshop. He is believed to be connected with several local organisations and, of late, was said to be active with the Sunny Youth Front.
Sadiq’s residence has been locked since Monday evening and their whereabouts are not known. Neighbours too were unaware of the developments.
A close relative said the family members have no idea about the reason for Sadiq’s detention. “Some in the neighbourhood thought the detention was in connection with the blast that was reported at the railway station. Later, some reports said it was because of a murder case. We are still unclear about the developments,” said the relative. The ISD team is also learnt to have picked up another person from Bagalkot, but no details were available.
An investigating officer, while referring to the arrest of four people by the Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh Anti Terrorist Squads (ATS) in connection with Kamlesh’s murder, claimed, “While tracking the phone calls of the arrested persons, it was found that they were in touch with a person from Hubballi. Kuppelur has received a call immediately after the killing of Tiwari.”
It was also found that Kuppelur was linked with the banned Students Islamic Movement of India earlier, he added. Another senior officer too confirmed that phone records showed Kuppelur was in regular touch with the arrested persons.
“With the help of the local police, the ISD team watched his activities for two days and after getting confirmation from the UP and Gujarat police, he was picked up for questioning.” His computer was found to have a lot of incriminating videos, the officer added.