BENGALURU: Four of the IM operatives arrested by Bengaluru Police have confessed that they have been receiving hawala money from foreign countries to carry out terror attacks. A senior police officer said the accused were in the most wanted list of the police and central agencies for their role in several terror cases.
Speaking to reporters, City Police Commissioner M N Reddi said the operatives were in constant touch with the terror suspects, absconding in foreign countries. The absconders were funding all the four through hawala transactions to carry out terror activities here.
Though not directly involved in any of the blast cases, the accused have been found to be manufacturing and delivering deadly explosives to carry out the attacks, including the Chinnaswamy Stadium blast in April 2010.
The material found at the blast site and explosives recovered from the accused have matched. One of the accused was trained in manufacturing explosives in Pakistan. Though several accused were arrested in connection with the stadium case, the agencies were not sure about the origin of the explosives. With the arrest of the four suspected IM operatives, that question has been almost answered, Reddi said.
“The agencies are now trying to match the missing links of the previous blasts based on the statements made by the arrested suspects,” Reddi added.
According to sources, special teams interrogating the terror suspects has intensified their probe and more arrests are likely soon. In all, nine teams are interrogating the arrested. They include teams from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Bihar, who have come to the city to ascertain the role of all the four in the terror strikes in their respective states.
Regarding the allegations of the family members of the accused that the police were targeting Bhatkal youth and had planted the box of explosives in their houses, Reddi said the arrests were made based on concrete intelligence inputs.
All the four were being tracked for the last few months.
“The probe is very transparent and there is no truth in the allegations made by the family of terror suspects. The Indian police are not into the business of planting explosives to frame anyone on false charges... We have proper evidence that they were receiving international calls often by handlers of terror outfits,” Reddi said.