TN police bust inter-state 'jihadi' module with nation wide

A Tamil Nadu-based 'jihadi' module with links to a similar group in neighbouring Karnataka and planning to carry out nation wide attacks has been busted with the arrest of eight men, police said on Wednesday.

The eight people, including three "radical elements" from Bengaluru, were arrested and pistols and ammunitions recovered from them by the 'Q' branch police, which handles matters related to extremists and involving national security.

Inputs gathered by the intelligence wing of Tamil Nadu police revealed that "a few notorious fundamentalist elements are making preparation to wage jihad at various parts of the country and (they) have disappeared" from the state in the third week of last month, a police release said.

Some of them belonging to this Tamil Nadu jihadi module were linked to various communal cases including a sensational murder case in the state.

"This module has developed link with a similar module in Bengaluru and started moving to different parts of the country," the release said.

An operation was launched to track their activities in various locations and the states concerned were informed about their movement and their cooperation was sought.

Further investigation led to the arrest of five people in Tamil Nadu. Later, three from Karnataka were arrested by the 'Q' branch sleuths with the assistance of neighbouring State's police.

Three pistols and ammunitions were recovered from them.

The arrested persons were produced before a court here which remanded them to judicial custody.