2008 Bengaluru serial blasts: Suspect arrested from forest in Kerala’s Kannur district
Abdul Saleem is suspected to be an Indian Mujahideen operative.
The Central Crime Branch of the Bengaluru Police on Thursday arrested a suspect in connection with the 2008 Bengaluru serial blasts from a forest in Kerala’s Kannur district, The News Minute reported. Abdul Saleem is suspected to be an Indian Mujahideen operative, according to PTI.
“He was part of the gang involved in the serial blast case in Bengaluru and was absconding,” said Bengaluru Police Commissioner T Suneel Kumar. “The case is on trial. We cannot share anymore details on the matter.”
“Only thing we can say right now is that we have kept [detained] one person from Kerala and he has been produced before the court,” said Kerala’s Additional Commissioner of Police Alok Kumar. “We are requesting police custody to question him.”
The trial in the case is in its final stage, Kumar said, adding that at least 32 people are accused.
On July 25, 2008, seven blasts across Bengaluru killed two people. A week later, the police arrested Sameer Sadiq, allegedly affiliated to the Students’ Islamic Movement of India, for his role in the blasts. Political activist from Kerala Abdul Nasser Madani was arrested in December 2009, following the arrests of two Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists from the Indian-Bangladesh border.
In 2016, the National Investigation Agency and Kerala Police identified KP Sabeer, a Lashkar-e-Taiba member, as the main accused in the case.