Major terror plot averted in Bengaluru, 5 suspects arrested with explosives

Bengaluru police officials said all five suspects were jailed in connection with a 2017 murder case in the Central Jail

The Central Crime Branch of the Bengaluru Police on Wednesday arrested five men for allegedly planning to carry out “subversive activities” in the city, reported The Hindu.

The suspects, identified as Syed Suhel, Umar, Janid, Mudasir, and Zahid, were apprehended in the Kanakanagar area of Sultanpalya locality. The police have also recovered seven pistols, ammunition, a walkie-talkie and other items from the group, Police Commissioner B Dayananda said.

“CCB [Central Crime Branch] has succeeded in tracking down the people who planned to commit acts of vandalism in Bengaluru city,” Dayananda was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

“Five accused have been arrested... One of the accused who is absconding provided these weapons to those arrested to carry out certain subversive activities," he added.

All five were accused in a murder case in 2017 and were lodged in the city’s Parappana Agrahara Central Jail where they came in contact with T Nazir, one of prime accused in the 2008 Bengaluru serial blasts case, Dayananda said.

“It seems Nazir radicalised these individuals, especially the one who is absconding abroad,” he added.

Meanwhile, former Karnataka Chief Minister Bassavaraj Bommai said that the arrests point towards a “conspiracy of serial blasts” in Bengaluru.

“CCB has done a good job however it is not enough,” the BJP leader said.

“This has got a very deep conspiracy and we have to go behind that. I think it is a fit case to be handed over to the NIA [National Investigation Agency]," he added.