Bangalore Police Commissioner Jyoti Prakash Mirji flanked by Director
General of Police Lalrokhuma Pachau (right) and Joint Commissioner B.
Dayanand at a press conference in Bangalore. File photo: G.P. Sampath
Kumar
Hailing from Nanded, he had gone into hiding in the city after the first set of arrests
The Central Crime Branch of the Bangalore police arrested one more person as part of its ongoing anti-terror investigation. With this, the number of arrests has gone up to 13.
Twenty-two-year-old
Mohammed Akram — with aliases such as Khalid and Imran Khan — was
allegedly arrested late on Saturday evening from the busy Majestic area,
which is the city’s main transit point.
He was allegedly trying to flee the city.
The
police claim to have recovered a foreign-made 7.65 mm pistol, 16 live
rounds as well as other incriminating material from him. Mr. Akram
allegedly told the police that he is from Nanded in Maharashtra (where
the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad recently arrested four men).
Revealing
these details at a press conference here on Sunday, Bangalore Police
Commissioner B.G. Jyothi Prakash Mirji said Akram had managed to evade
arrest so far and had gone into hiding after the first set of arrests
where 11 men were taken into custody on charges of plotting to
assassinate some politicians and journalists.
For the
first time since the August 29 operation came to light, Mr. Mirji
confirmed that those arrested by the Maharashtra ATS and those arrested
by the Bangalore police were part of the same alleged terror module.
However, he refused to comment on whether the Maharashtra ATS and the
Bangalore CCB were working together.
Referring to
articles in a section of the media, Mr. Mirji appealed to journalists to
exercise restraint and caution in reportage.
He said the case was an extremely serious one but it “should not be used to incite communal sentiments.”