The Bengaluru Police, who claimed to have cracked a terror module that had procured arms and ammunition to carry out subversive activities in the city, recovered four live grenades from the Kodigehalli residence of one of the arrested persons, Jahid Tabrez. The police had recovered seven country-made pistols and 45 live bullets during the arrest of the five suspects.
Even as the city police claimed that the recovery of live grenades from the house of one of the accused was an indication of the module’s capability to carry out blasts and were waiting for a “green signal” from their handlers, family members of Tabrez alleged the grenades were “planted” by the police.
“The grenades the police have claimed to have seized from our house were not from here. The police brought them, placed them here in our house, and claimed to have found them,” said Avez Tabarez, elder brother of the accused. He claimed his brother was framed in a murder case in 2017 because of his friendship with Junaid and since then the police had been harassing the family.
“My brother had cut off all contact with Junaid. I was taking him to work with me at an aluminium factory. Despite this, the police have again arrested him for his past association with Junaid,” he told media persons on Tuesday.
Allegations denied
Denying these allegations, a senior police official, who is part of the probe, said that the custodial interrogation of the accused led them to the cache of live grenades. The grenades had now been handed over to Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Madivala, for examination.
The official said that these grenades were part of the arms consignment arranged by the prime accused in the case, Junaid, to be delivered to the group of five of his associates, arrested now.
The recovery of walkie-talkie sets also indicated that the accused may have been planning an on-ground operation. These sets were probably meant to be used to communicate among themselves during the operation to go off the agencies’ radar. These sets have also been sent for examination to FSL, Madivala. S.D. Sharanappa, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), who is leading the probe into the case, said that more people were likely to be involved with the module and that investigation was on to identify them. “We are presently on the lookout for the individual who supplied arms and ammunition for the module,” he said.
