BENGALURU: The Central Crime Branch (CCB) police have issued a lookout circular (LOC) against Junaid Ahmed in connection with the alleged terror module they busted recently. Sources in the police department said though the whereabouts of Junaid are not yet known, LOC has been issued against him. “While the initial investigation suggested that he was in a Gulf country, it is not clear whether he is still there. As part of the investigation, the LOC has been issued against him,” an official said.
The police had arrested five terror suspects - Syed Suhel Suhail Khan, Mohammed Umar, Zahid Tabrez, Syed Mudasir Pasha and Mohammed Fazil - who are presently in police custody. Investigations pointed that Junaid Ahmed, a resident of Sultanpalya, came in contact with Thadiyanthavide Nazeer - a Lashkar-e-Taiba operative and an accused in the 2008 Bengaluru serial blasts - when he was lodged at Bangalore Central Prison in a kidnap and murder case. Allegedly radicalised by Nazeer, Junaid mentored and motivated the five suspects to carry out anti-national activities.
As the police continue to question the five suspects already in their custody, they are trying to dig more information out of them about Junaid. Also, not knowing the current location of Junaid comes as a hurdle for the CCB in approaching Interpol. “Though we have not reached a stage where we can approach Interpol, knowing his whereabouts is important as we can seek Interpol help in nabbing him only if we have some concrete details that he is present in a particular country. Until then, we can’t approach Interpol,” the official added.
The city police had seized a cache of ammunition including grenades from the arrested terror suspects, who were allegedly planning to carry out blasts at places with high footfalls. The NIA officials had also examined the suspects in custody.