Pakistani hand suspected in church blasts

By K.V. Subramanya

BANGALORE, JULY 13. There appears to be a Pakistani hand in the serial blasts that occurred in churches in south India during the last couple of months, according to information gathered by police.

The Director-General of Police, Mr. C. Dinakar, told The Hindu today that the son of Deendar Channabasaveshwara Siddique, who hailed from Gadag district in Karnataka and had propounded a cult carrying his name, was in Pakistan. ``Siddique's son is very active in Pakistan and according to reports, he co-ordinated the explosions through followers of the sect,'' Mr. Dinakar said.

A senior officer of the Intelligence Bureau, who came here from New Delhi, sleuths from Andhra Pradesh's Counter-Intelligence Cell and local police officials exchanged information today about the activities of the Pakistan-based person.

According to available information, Siddique's philosophy was a ``concoction of Hinduism and Islam which was not acceptable to a large number of Muslims''.

Siddique had preached that ``Om'' and Allah were same, and this was contained in the literature recovered by police, the DGP said. The prime suspect in the serial blasts, S.M. Ibrahim, who was arrested yesterday, is a follower of the sect.

This correspondent, who visited Ibrahim's residence at Varthur in the outskirts of Bangalore, saw huge photographs of Siddique and his disciples adorning the walls. Ibrahim's wife, Ms. Barkhat Ibrahim, said they were followers of Siddique, whose grave was in Hyderabad.

Meanwhile, two of Ibrahim's brothers, Noor Ahmed and Wahab, who are also followers of the sect and are suspected to be involved in the church blasts in Andhra Pradesh, have arrived in Bangalore.

According to Ms. Barkhat, Ahmed and Wahab were ``busy arranging money for their brother's surgery''. Ibrahim, who was injured in the van blast, was today shifted to the intensive care unit of St. John's Hospital.

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