Bengaluru: The December 28 Church Street blast case in which one woman lost her life and three others were seriously injured was reportedly a professional job executed by “trained” terrorists, said top official sources in the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
“The kind of IED used in the blast proves a professional hand. It is, however, too early to draw and come to definite conclusion on who could be behind it.
The Bengaluru police and other concerned agencies are investigating all aspects and terror organisations including SIMI-TTP,” the officer said.
SIT examining CCTV footage
The SIT probing the Church Street blast case have zeroed in on several suspects, who were moving around suspiciously near the spot. Based on CCTV camera footage the police have also zeroed in on a man wearing a black dress.
“His images have been captured in the CCTV cameras installed at a restaurant close to the blast site. He was captured moving around suspiciously a few minutes before the blast.
He was seen going towards the blast site and returning hastily after a few minutes. We are suspecting that he could be the plotter,” a police source said.
When contacted, Additional Commissioner of Police (Law & Order) Alok Kumar said that he was not the only one whose role was being suspected.
“We have images of several people and the role of each one of them is being probed. It is too early to come to a conclusion in this case.”
In addition, Mr Kumar said the police were in touch with Delhi and Bihar police, who had arrested some terror suspects after the Church Street blast.
“We are not sure whether they are involved in this case. However, our teams are in touch with Delhi and Bihar police and have sought information from them,” he added.
SIMI splits into two
According to the Intelligence Bureau, banned SIMI has further split into two factions, one, which is still with Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence and the other, to which the five Khandwa jail absconders belong, swears by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which carried out the December 16 Peshawar school carnage.
The SIMI-TTP alliance denounces the ISI as political mercenaries and believes in establishing the rule of Sharia under a universal Islamic Caliphate.
