BANGALORE: Two more men, “suspected to have handled or possessed ” the explosives used in the bomb blast on Temple Street, Malleswaram on April 17, were arrested by Tamil Nadu police in Coimbatore.
Valayal Hakeem and Asghar Ali, the two arrested, will be remanded to Bangalore police custody by a court in Tamil Nadu. Thursday’s arrests take the total number of suspects arrested in the case to six.
Addressing the media here on Friday, Bangalore city police commissioner Raghavendra Auradkar announced that the two men were arrested in a joint operation by the city and Tamil Nadu police. “The two suspects, Valayal Hakeem and Asghar Ali were already in the custody of Coimbatore police for alleged possession of explosives,” he said. Auradkar said the police are yet to come across the duo’s involvement with any outfits. He said the police have a “fair picture” of the conspiracy after the interrogation of the suspects.
A team of Bangalore police has already reached Coimbatore and is seeking the body warrant to bring the suspects to Bangalore. Based on a tip-off, Tamil Nadu police arrested Asghar on Thursday night, while Hakeem was arrested on Friday morning.
“It’s too early to talk about the role of these two in the conspiracy but during investigation we came to know about their involvement. Only after interrogation can we come out with more details,” a senior officer said.
Wanted duo
According to sources, both Asghar Ali and Valayal Hakeem were wanted in different cases by Tamil Nadu police. While Asghar was wanted for throwing a petrol bomb at the house of a Hindu fundamentalist leader, Hakeem was on the run after petrol bombs were found in his house during the recent row over the movie ‘Vishwaroopam’.
