Two Brothers Held in Rajampet for Advani Rath Yatra, Blast Cases; High Alert Imposed
The arrests were made at Kothapalli area in Rajampet in Annamayya district on Tuesday night.
Anantapur: A high alert has been sounded on Rajampet in Annamayya district following the arrest of two brothers, who have been accused in bomb blasts as also in an attack on L.K. Advani’s Rath Yatra to Ayodhya.
The arrests were made at Kothapalli area in Rajampet in Annamayya district on Tuesday night.
Police said two militants, Abubakar Siddiqui and Mansoor, both brothers, were residing in Rajampet for the past two decades on the pretext of doing sari business and running a petty shop. The duo took houses on rent opposite to the government Urdu school at Kothapalli area in Rayachoti town and allegedly got fake Aadhaar and other identity cards made as “locals” of Rayachoti town. This, though they were not connected with the district, police said.
Abubakar Siddiqui and Mansoor were accused in several cases of militant activities in different states two decades ago. The Tamil Nadu police registered cases against them over bomb blast cases and in their alleged targeting of BJP’s L.K. Advani during his Rathayatra to Ayodhya in the early 1990’s.
The locals said the two had never disclosed their true identity to the locals of the residential area even as they were involved in training nearly 200 children and youths about the tenets of Islam.
Officials said a team of the anti-terrorist squad recently got wind of the movements of the two in the region. A team deputed by the squad moved around in Rajampet in plain clothes for the past one month and confirmed the identity of these men. A team of the Chennai-based intelligence bureau finally detained Abubakar Siddiqui and his brother Mansoor and alerted the local authorities.
Following this, local revenue officials along with police conducted raids on the rented house and seized several documents and books from the house. The police also detained two women who had close contacts with the two brothers. The TN-based team later shifted the two brothers to Chennai for detailed investigations.
In wake of the arrests, the Rajampet police set up six check posts and are searching every vehicle passing through them as part of steps to prevent militant activities.