Search has been intensified for three more suspects in the parallel telephone exchange case subsequent to the arrest of the prime accused P. P. Shabeer after a year-long investigation into the incident. The support of police squads from various other States will also be sought.
Though the police, with the support of the hi-tech cell, had previously tried their best to track the suspects, it failed to work out as expected. The three — M.G. Krishnaprasad, Abdul Gafoor, and K. Niyas — were at large after eight parallel telephone exchanges were exposed in Kozhikode by the police on July 2, 2021. Look out notices too had failed to attract any reliable leads about their hideouts. The possibility of their escape to foreign countries was also under investigation.
In the wake of the latest arrest, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the District Crime Branch (CB) is likely to exchange the case details with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) to probe in detail the suspected use of the discreet telephone network for anti-national activities. NIA and ED officers are likely to quiz the prime accused along with a few others who were previously arrested on charges of running similar parallel telephone exchanges in Malappuram and Bengaluru.
According to police sources, the financial deals carried out by the four suspects, colluding with the other parallel telephone exchange operators in neighbouring States, indicate suspicious developments. Investigation reports confirm that the suspects have been part of illegal financial deals worth ₹46 crore. The source of money and the other beneficiaries of the illegally transferred funds remain unknown, they said.
“The police have exposed the suspected terror links based on strong incriminating evidence. A 23-member local police team was behind the probe at the initial stage that was later taken up by the CB,” said a senior police officer who was earlier associated with the investigation. He also said the CB made creditworthy advancements in the probe, drawing the attention of the national agencies.
The major finding of the CB was the suspected use of the discreet communication network for facilitating communication between extremist elements. The suspected exploitation of the network by smugglers was another finding. A few IT firms in Kozhikode and Kannur were also put under the scanner for their suspected involvement in designing special softwares for the parallel telephone exchange operation.
One of the major findings of the CB was the suspected misuse of the secret network operated by the four for facilitating communication between Pakistan-based agencies and their supportive counterparts in India. There were also findings that the suspected gold smugglers and extremist organisation members were beneficiaries of the underground communication network.
