BENGALURU: The officials of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), who found explosives at a house in Chikkabanavara near Soladevanahalli following the arrest of suspected member of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) Habibur Rehman, have filed a fresh complaint with the Soladevanahalli police. Investigators suspect that Rehman and three of his aides were planning another attack.
After Rehman’s arrest, NIA officials and sleuths of the Internal Security Division (ISD) carried out search and seizure operations. They had recovered two Improved Explosive Devices (IED) in Ramanagara on June 26. Based on Rehman’s statement, they searched a house in Chikkabanavara on Sunday and recovered five half-prepared ‘tiffin box grenades’ and other substances such as capacitors and resistors used in making IEDs.
The Soladevanahalli police have registered an FIR under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and other sections of the IPC. The local police also conducted panchanama at the said house on Monday.
A senior police official said that the NIA was most likely to take over the investigation soon. “Investigations have revealed that Rehman stayed in the house for just two days with his aides, who are presently absconding. It is also suspected that Rehman, an accused in Burdwan blast case, and his aides were getting ready to carry out another terror strike, going by the preparations,” the official said. Meanwhile, ISD officials are on the lookout for the three terror suspects, based on Rehman’s statements.