In the end, technology proved to be the pitfall. While the Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh police conducted a joint operation to nab terror suspects Bilal Malik and Panna Ismail from their hideout in Puttur, Andhra Pradesh, police sources have said the mobile phone of ‘Police’ Fakruddin helped the authorities zero in on them. The trio was allegedly involved in the plot to blow up the convoy of BJP leader L K Advani in Madurai district in October 2011.
According to the sources, Fakruddin, who was wanted in high profile cases including the murder of BJP State general secretary auditor V Ramesh, was held around 2.30 pm on Friday in front of the Periamet mosque in Chennai, after tracing the signal from his mobile phone. He was leaving the mosque after completing his prayers.
The sources said an informer called internal security IG Kannappan’s office around 1.30 pm and said Fakruddin was in the mosque. Following the tip-off, Kannappan, SP Arularasu and other officers planned to nab Fakruddin and officers who knew his identity were sent to Periamet. An emergency vehicle check post was also set up near the mosque. Police officers wearing lungis and skull caps were sent to the spot. The police also started tapping Fakruddin’s mobile phone and found that he told Malik he will visit Triplicane after his prayers, said the sources.
Once the prayers ended, the police arrested him. “He was trying to flee on a bike,” said an officer.
Later, top police officers rushed to the Special Intelligence Unit at the DGP’s office in Chennai where Fakruddin was brought within minutes from Periamet, the sources added. There they found that he didn’t have the phone and started a probe to locate it. They identified that it was with Malik and said that before going to Chennai from Puttur, Fakruddin had given the phone to Malik.
The sleuths also found that the phone signal indicated Gate Street in Puttur and informed Tiruvallur police to find the house where it was located. The Tiruvallur police found Malik’s house with the help of GPS along with information provided by villagers.