The Hindu : Front Page : Massive search operation in Kozhikode district

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Sunday, Oct 29, 2006
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Massive search operation in Kozhikode district

Staff Reporter

Following the arrest of suspected Al-Badr activists

IN ACTION: Police officers coming out of the house of Mohammed Fahad's stepmother at Kappad in Kozhikode after a search on Saturday.

Kozhikode: Mohammed Fahad, one of the suspected Al-Badr activists arrested by the Karnataka police from Mysore on Friday for planning to attack the Vikasa Soudha in Bangalore and the Central Institute of Indian Languages in Mysore, is reported to have maintained close links with his father's relatives based in Kozhikode. This was revealed during massive search operations carried out by the police in various parts of Kozhikode district on Saturday.

Searches were conducted in the house of his stepmother at Kappad, his father Abdulla Koya's sisters' residences at Palazhi and Iringalloor, at an industrial unit at Kuttikattoor, the houses of its owner and one of its directors. Letters, diaries and compact discs were seized during the raids. Some of the letters in Urdu were letters received by his stepbrother and stepsister from Fahad's sister in Karachi.

Fahad, the seventh son of Abdulla Koya who migrated to Karachi in Pakistan in the early 70s, had been in Kozhikode during February and March this year. His father had accompanied him to Kozhikode.

The raids were carried out under the supervision of City Police Commissioner Balram Kumar Upadhyay and Kozhikode Rural Superintendent of Police T.M. Abubaker. A team of police officers from Karnataka is camping in the city. So far no arrest has been recorded though several people have been interrogated.

Considering the seriousness of the issue, the top brass is tight-lipped about the investigation. "The searches have been conducted to establish whether Fahad has any links with anyone in Kozhikode. Investigation is also being conducted whether he has contacts with any organisation in the State," said S. Anandakrishnan, Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Kannur Range.

The State police did not have information about his stay in Kozhikode. Interestingly, the March 3 blasts in Kozhikode, one at the KSRTC bus station and the other at the mofussil bus station, occurred when Fahad was in Kozhikode.

Al-Badr, which operates closely with several Pakistan-based Jehadi groups in Jammu and Kashmir, has been seeking to spread its network to other parts of the country of late.

Fahad, hailing from north Nizamabad in Karachi, was issued an Indian visa on November 30, 2005 for 45 days. The Karnataka police had confirmed that he overstayed his time. His stepbrother Abdul Khader, it is learnt, has been taken into custody by the Karnataka police. Abdul Khader is running a fancy shop in Mysore and both his kids are studying in Bangalore, while his wife is residing at Kappad.

Police sources said that the raids at the industrial unit had been carried out for two reasons. The police suspect that the company owner has some relationship with Abdulla Koya. Apart from that a blast had occurred at the site five years ago, the police said.

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