Three people have been arrested in Tamil Nadu for their alleged involvement in the blast near BJP office in Bangalore.
During a joint operation, Bangalore and Tamil Nadu police arrested Peer Mohideen and Basheer on late Monday night in Chennai, while the third person, Kitchen Buhari, was arrested on Tuesday morning in Madurai. They will be produced in court on Tuesday and will then be taken to Bangalore.
On 17 April, an Impovised Explosive Device (IED) which was placed on a motorcycle exploded just 100 metres away from the BJP office in Malleshwaram. At least 11 policemen and five civilians were injured in the incident. Some cars and a police van parked near the office were also damaged.
The blast happened on the last date for filing nominations of candidates for the Karnataka polls to be held on 6 May. Earlier, National Intelligence Agency (NIA) examined footage from cameras installed near the BJP office to identify the persons who had parked the motorcycle with the explosives there. The footage showed two men parking the motorcycle outside the office.
The vehicle was reportedly a stolen one with a Tamil Nadu registration, which was later found to be fake. The owner of the vehicle was identified and the motorcycle was found to have been sold several times via different transactions. Cops are looking at each transaction to find out who were involved.
Police have so far questioned at least eight suspects in connection with the case. Moreover, the NIA on Sunday carried out raids in Darbhanga and Samastipur districts in Bihar to find another suspect, Tahseen Akhtar, who is accused of carrying out several bomb blast and is connected to Indian Mujahideen operative Yaseen Bhatkal.
According to NIA sources, Akhtar's arrest could give them some vital clues about the Bangalore and Hyderabad explosions, where two blasts occurred in February killing at least 16 people and injuring more than 80.
