Bhatkal man allegedly involved, Rudresh killers had IM links: NIA
09:43PM Fri 14 Apr, 2017
NEW DELHI: On the verge of winding up its probe into the October 2016 murder of RSS and BJP leader Rudresh in Bengaluru, the National Investigation Agency found that three of the five accused arrested in the case were allegedly in touch with a Bhatkal-based suspected Indian Mujahideen leader, Syed Ismail Afaaque.
Afaaque, an ayurvedic doctor, had been allegedly trained in making IEDs and provided explosives for the 2011 Mumbai blast, 2012 Pune blast and 2013 Hyderabad blast, carried out by IM members led by Yasin Bhatkal.
Afaaque was caught by agencies in January 2015, following disclosure by Yasin alias Ahmed Siddibapa.
Five persons were arrested - Irfan Pasha, Waseem Ahmed, Mohammed Sadiq, Mujheebulla and Asim Sheriff, who was district president of PFI in Bengaluru city -- in connection with Rudresh's murder.
The NIA probe has found that "Pasha, Wasim and Sadiq have common contact with the database of call details of Syed Ismail Afaaque".
An agency source said it is ready to file a chargesheet in the Rudresh case, and that there was a larger conspiracy to kill RSS and BJP leaders in South India.
"....they committed the murder with the intention to strike terror in the minds of general public, especially the members of RSS and likeminded organization," the NIA investigation report states.
Before NIA, Karnataka police had probed the matter. Both agencies found that the attackers of Rudresh had used the word 'kafir' during the attack.
When contacted, Mohammad Saqib, PFI president in Karnataka, asserted that the "probe by agencies against PFI was biased". "It discourages a social work organization like us from doing more work for society," he said, adding: "We are working according to the Constitution and we have vehemently spoken against terrorism."
The Report was originally posted by Times of India and has been partly edited by www.Bhatkallys.com editor
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