T'PURAM: The central investigation agencies on Monday arrested two persons from Trivandrum International Airport for their suspected links with terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and involvement in the 2008 Bengaluru blast case.
The arrested persons have been identified as Gul Nawaz, a native of Uttar Pradesh, and Shoaib alias Fazil, a native of Kondat near Pappinissery, Kannur.
Gul Nawaz was accused of raising funds for the LeT through hawala channels to sponsor terrorist activities in the country, while Shoaib was accused in the 2008 Bengaluru blast case, sources said.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is in charge of the LeT hawala money transaction case, the Anti-Terror Cell of the Bengaluru Police is investigating the 2008 blasts in the southern city.
Sources said both the terror accused were deported from the Gulf and arrested when they landed at the Trivandrum airport. With this, a total of five persons have been arrested for terror suspected cases from Kerala within the last three days.
On Saturday, the NIA had picked three persons from the migrant workers' settlement in Kochi.
A team of officers from the investigation agencies reached the airport premise in the evening and took the accused into the custody when the Air India Express repatriation flight (1532) from Riyad landed in the airport by 6.13 pm. It is learnt that the duo were deported to the country.
Soon after they were taken into the custody, the slueths have questioned them for about 2.30 hours inside the airport. Later they were taken to Kochi for detailed interrogation. It is expected that they would be taken to Delhi and Bangalore after obtaining transit remand on Tuesday.
Nawaz was accused of raising fund for the proscribed LeT from Saudi in a case registered in 2017. The NIA had earlier arrested other accused in the case for their role in funding LeT operative Sheikh Abdul Nayeem alias Sohel Khan who was arrested and chargesheeted earlier for criminal conspiracy to carry out subversive activities in the country.
Shoaib is said to be the Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative and accused in Bangalore blast.