Four jihadis to be interrogated in Bengaluru

A team of city police had gone to Chennai last week to interrogate the four accused, but due to lack of time they couldn’t collect much information about the terror module and its presence in Bengaluru, said an official source. It is reliably learnt that the four alleged jihadis – Abdul Shameem, Sadiq, Shahid Ali Nawaz and Samiullah, who are currently in the custody of Chennai police – have reportedly told the police that they targeted Mr Kumar because of his Right wing affiliation and a hate speech he had reportedly delivered in December last year. “They are also angry with the bloodshed in the Middle East and Gaza in particular,” he added.

While Shameem, Sadiq and Nawaz are reportedly former members of the proscribed terror outfit Al Ummah, Samiullah is a “neo convert”, said the officer. He is a middle-aged painter from Tamil Nadu, who had migrated to Bengaluru more than 30 years ago and lived in a house in Sonnenahalli, where he provided shelter to the other three. “He has been radicalised and knew about the motives of Shameem, Sadiq and Nawaz,” said the officer.

After the arrest, the city police are on alert and are investigating the outreach of the new terror module in Bengaluru. “Like Samiullah there may be many others, who have been radicalised. This could be a terror module on the lines of the Ranchi terror cell, which is reportedly behind Mr Modi’s Patna rally blasts last year. They are independent cells, which have been put together by someone. We still don’t have the larger picture of the group,” he added.