Malappuram, Kollam blasts: Two 'Base Movement' terrorists arrested
- The arrested are identified as N Aboobacker, 40, and K Abdul Rahman, 27.
- The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had arrested five members of Base Movement in November last year
- All the arrested belong to Madurai in Tamil Nadu.
FollowThe special investigation team (SIT) has arrested top functionaries of Base Movement, the Indian arm of Al-Qaeda, for masterminding the blasts at Malappuram and Kollam collectorates.
The arrested are identified as N Aboobacker, 40, and K Abdul Rahman, 27. With their arrest, seven Base Movement terrorists have landed in custody in connection with the blasts at Malappuram and Kollam collectorates last year. All the arrested belong to Madurai in Tamil Nadu.
Also read: Blast at Malappuram Collectorate; Indian Al-Qaeda's letter found
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had arrested five members of Base Movement in November last year, in connection with blasts.
Also read: Kerala cops recover pen drives with death threat to PM Modi
The NIA officials had found that the blasts at court premises at Mysore, Nellore and Chittoor, were also masterminded by Base Movement.
The police had recovered a cardboard box containing a letter and a pen drive from Malappuram Collectorate after the explosion on 1 November 2016. The letter claimed that the blast was in revenge for the murder of Muhammed Akhlaq, who was mob- lynched on September 28 last year for allegedly keeping beef at his home in Dadri in UP. The incident brought shame on India, it said. The letter had the map of India printed on it and a picture of Osama Bin Laden. The pen drive had messages warning attack on Prime Minister Modi. A similar explosion had rocked the Kollam Collectorate in June last year.
The Base Movement is also suspected to be behind sending life-threatening messages to political leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They had also warned attacks on various foreign embassies to India.
The intelligence agencies had found striking similarities in the explosions happened in different parts of South India including the blast at the BJP office in Karnataka in April 2013. The NIA believes that the blasts were in retaliation to the arrests of former Al-Ummah activists in connection with the attack on BJP office.
