Bengaluru: With suspicious terror activities being reported from across the state, especially in Bengaluru, the police have set up a separate wing to deal with such activities in the city. The new Anti-Terrorist Cell (ATC), established on Tuesday, will work under the Central Crime Branch (CCB) and will be headed by an ACP rank officer. It will be monitored by the Joint Commissioner Police (Crime).
The city police decided on the separate wing after they were alerted about the presence of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh operatives and their sleeper cells in the city.
The city’s ATC is on the lines of Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), which deals with only terror-related issues. Several states, including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and West Bengal, have such units.
Around two months ago, security was beefed across the city after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) shared with states a list of 125 suspected activists who have close links with the JMB leadership. The circular also revealed that the JMB has 20-22 hideouts in Bengaluru and is trying to spread its base in South India.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sandeep Patil said that there is a need for such a separate wing following reports from NIA.
State Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai had earlier announced that a Bengaluru-specific Anti-Terror Squad would be formed.
On June 26 this year, the NIA along with the Intelligence Bureau and local police arrested an alleged JMB operative, Habibur Rehman Sheikh (28) alias Habibur or Sheikh, wanted in the 2014 Burdwan blast case, from Doddaballapura in Bengaluru Rural district. His interrogation led to the recovery of two live bombs hidden in a storm water drain in Ramanagar district.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has recovered fabricated hand grenades, timers and other explosive substances from a house in Chikkabanavara on the outskirts of the city, which was taken on rent by Sheikh earlier.
