Suspects linked to Malleswaram blast

The April 17 Malleswaram terror blast case is likely to be solved with the arrest of three prime accused — Panna Ismail, Bilal Malik and “Police” Fakhruddin — in a joint operation by the Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu police from a house in Puttur in Chittoor district on AP-TN border. According to official sources, Fakhruddin was reportedly arrested on Friday by the Tamil Nadu police, which led to the arrest of Ismail and Malik from their hideout on Saturday morning. A woman and three children, who were present in the house, were asked to evacuate before the encounter began early Saturday morning, which lasted more than eight hours and seriously injured police inspector Lakshman from Tamil Nadu. The hitherto unknown terror module reportedly based in Tamil Nadu and allegedly supported by Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence is behind the Malleswaram blast and is also responsible for the gruesome murders of BJP Tamil Nadu unit general secretary V. Ramesh and Hindu Munnani state secretary Vellaiyappan in July. Fakhruddin and Ismail are from Melapalayam in Tirunelveli district and Malik is from Madurai. Ismail is said to have brought the bike to Bengaluru on which the explosives were strapped. “All the three arrests are significant and we will get the larger picture of the group, its members, people behind it and their funding after we interrogate them. Two other key suspects Siddique and Basha who are also involved in the April blast case are still at large,” said an officer on condition of anonymity. The Bengaluru police has so far arrested 12 accused, including Kichan Buhari, who has played a significant role in the April blast.