Karnataka police investigating the bomb blasts at BJP office in Bangalore arrested Tenkasi Hanifa, an accused in the pipe-bomb case and currently lodged in the Madurai Central Prison, on Friday.
Sources said that a Karnataka police team arrested Hanifa after a prison transit warrant was issued by a Karnataka magistrate court. The transit warrant was issued to Madurai central prison through the Tirumangalam magistrate court on Friday.
Karnataka police were granted 10 days custody of Hanifa, who was taken to Bangalore on Friday night.
Sources said that Hanifa has been included as the 17th accused in the chargesheet filed by Karnataka police in connection with the Malleswaram bomb blasts.
Sources said that after interrogating Abdul Basheer, Peer Mohideen and Kichan Buhari, a resident of Melapalayam, the NIA team investigating the Bangalore blasts had found that several persons, including some sympathisers of the banned outfit al-Umma, were involved in the April 17 blast.
Further, the mobile call records of the suspects pointed towards the involvement of Police Fakrudeen, Bilal Malick and Hanifa in the blast, sources added.
An official of the CB-CID, working jointly with Karnataka police in pipe bomb case investigation, said, “We suspect the hands of the banned outfit al-Umma behind the Bangalore blast. We will be interrogating the suspects intensely before reaching any conclusion though.”
Meanwhile, in Tirunelveli, a local court here on Saturday granted CB-CID four days custody of the five persons arrested in connection with the seizure of 17 kg of explosives and 141 electric detonators in Melapalayam recently. The arrested were Katta Sahul (38) of Thaika Street, Mohamed Thasim (33), Aameenpuram, Kutty (22) from Veera Street, Anwar Bismi (20) of Bangalappa Nagar 2nd street and Mohamed Samsudeen (21).