KOZHIKODE: A joint operation of the Karnataka and the State police raided premises and questioned individuals, especially in Malappuram district, on Sunday. This was in connection with the arrest of Mohammed Fahad, one of the suspected Al Badr activists, by the Karnataka police from Mysore on Friday.

In a related development, the Medical College police here registered a case against Fathima Beegum, daughter of the sister of Fahad's father, under Section 7 read with 14 of the Foreigners Act, 1946. She was charged with housing Fahad and his father, two Pakistani nationals, at their house at Badariyamadhathil in Peruvayal here during February and August, 2006 without informing the police.

Many released

Several persons taken into custody by the Karnataka police for questioning in the past two days have been released. Among them were two travel agents suspected to have arranged a passport for Fahad.

A police team led by Kozhikode Assistant Commissioner of Police K. Jayendran raided the travel agency the two were running and their residences in Kavannur in Malappuram district on Sunday. No incriminatory evidence was found.

Antecedents being checked

Police are looking into the antecedents of Fahad's relatives in Kozhikode and Malappuram. It is being ascertained whether Fahad had any specific connection with extremist organisations in the State. Incidentally, the State police did not have any information on Fahad's stay in Kozhikode. The March 3 twin blasts in Kozhikode, one at the KSRTC bus station and the other at the mofussil bus station, occurred when he was here.

Overstayed

Fahad, the seventh son of Abdulla Koya, who had migrated to Karachi in the early 70s, is a Pakistani citizen and was issued an Indian visa on November 30, 2005 for 45 days. The police confirmed that he had overstayed.

On Saturday, police searched the house of Fahad's stepmother at Kappad, the residences of his father's sisters' at Palazhi and Iringalloor, a steel industrial unit in Kuttikkattoor and the houses of its owners and one of its directors. A blast occurred at the unit five years ago. Police suspect the company owner had some relationship with Abdulla Koya.

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