Hubballi: Three suspected terrorists – allegedly involved in the Chennai train blast – were reportedly staying in a rented house at Tejashwi Nagar in Dharwad; it has just come to light. The three were arrested by the Anti-Terrorists Squad, Mumbai recently.
The terror suspects, allegedly associated with the banned Students Islamic Movement of India, used Hindu names and rented a house in Arogyanagar in this northern Karnataka city. They stayed in a house near the Dharwad railway station from January to June that is four months prior to the attack, and a month after.
The house owner Shivaji Kulkarni, came to know about the arrest of his former tenants only after the squad visited his house with the suspects photos for investigation.
Sources said that all the three arrested who hailed from UP, had claimed to be clothes merchants and stayed for five months in his house. They had stolen Kulkarni’s photo and took a SIM card in his name. They vacated the house on June 6, but were arrested in Hyderabad by the ATS squad after they cracked the IP address.
While interrogation these suspected terrorists revealed about their stay in Dharwad. Based on their revelations the squad visited Mr Kulkarni’s house and gathered more information. They enquired neighbours and also verified the internet centre and STD booths used by them near the house. One of the arrested is identified as Asif and all of them had close links with outlawed outfit SIMI.
Kulkarni said he has realized that his tenants were suspected terrorists who were involved in the blast at the Chennai Railway Station in May this year that killed one. “They had stolen my ID card and photos to get a SIM. They had given wrong names at the time of taking my house on rent and they used to stay indoors throughout the day,” he said.
But the Hubballi-Dharwad police were clueless about the arrests and the officials visited Kulkarni’s house after the news broke out about their arrests on Saturday.
Assistant Commissioner of Police H S Keri, who also visited the house, said, “We have no confirmation about the arrests. But we are taking the matter seriously.”
Attack claimed Techie’s life
Two low-intensity bombs went off on May 1 on a Bangalore-Guwahati train at Chennai Central station.The explosions, at 7.05 am, killed woman techie Swathi Paruchuri and injured at least 14 others. Swathi was an employee of Tata Consultancy Services in Bengaluru. The train had arrived on Platform 9. The bombs had been placed on S4 and S5 coaches.
