Kochi: The Base Movement members arrested from Madurai and Chennai recently will be brought to Kochi and their identification parade likely to be held in connection with the Malappuram and Kollam court complex explosions. The NIA has agreed to facilitate questioning of the accused by the Kerala police officers investigating the cases to ascertain if the group had direct involvement or carried out the low-intensity blasts with the assistance of anyone from the state.
“The group had planned more low-intensity blasts in the next two months in Kerala and Telangana. They will be brought here and questioned by the officers investigating the court complex blast cases. We’ve also sought permission for their ID parade with the help of certain blast witnesses,” said deputy commissioner of police Arul R.B. Krishna, who questioned the accused in NIA custody. The accused persons in NIA custody are currently lodged in Bengaluru.
They are likely to be brought to Malappuram and Kollam too for evidence collection. “A police team is likely to approach the court in Karnataka to record the arrest of the accused and later take them into custody for further interrogation. However, these procedures can be completed only after the NIA return them to judicial custody and complete the probe,” they said.
It was information provided by Kerala police, who traced a WhatsApp message received by them claiming responsibility soon after the Malapuram blast, which led to the arrest of five suspects by the National Investigative Agency (NIA). “The group was based in Madurai as per the interrogation of the accused. We need to further probe to clarify if there was involvement of any person from the state in the group. Investigation will examine if the members supplied the gunpowder or the same was locally gathered,” sources said.
