Info from terror suspects arrested in Delhi keeps state police on alert

Dharwad: A statement by the Delhi police Special Cell dealing with the activities of the three suspected terrorists arrested by them— that the main suspect had visited several places in Karnataka, including Hubballi, Dharwad and Udupi, looking for a safe spot in a forest area to prepare, test and store IEDs, has put the state police on alert.Delhi police special commissioner HGS Dhaliwal had informed the media that Mohemmed Shahnawaz Alam,31, a mining engineer by qualification, and suspected to be linked to the ISI, had been arrested on Monday by the Delhi police’s special cell. During interrogation, he had revealed that on the instruction of his handler, he and other members of the module had started scouting for forest spots to set up a base where they could prepare, test and store improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The team had visited Lavasa, Mahabaleshwar, Goa, Hubballi-Dharwad, the Saraswathi wildlife area in Karnataka, Udupi, Kerala, Valsad Wildlife Sanctuary, Nallamala mountain ranges and Chandauli, to find suitable hideouts and base in the Western Ghats.Highly placed sources in the Karnataka Police sources told TOI on Tuesday, that the state intelligence department and internal security wing were on alert, and are collecting more information from the Delhi police on the revelations made by the arrested suspects. They said that a National Investigation Agency (NIA) team is expected to visit Karnataka for further investigation.The revelation that Hubballi and Dharwad were under consideration for housing sleeper cells by the terrorist outfits has also sent jitters among the citizens of the twin cities, who were feeling that they were in a safe zone. Earlier too, Western Ghats were the favourite haunts for terror outfits and Naxal groups to carry out their activities.It may be recalled here that the CoD (now CID) police who were interrogating a terror suspect Mohemmed Asif, a medical student in February 2008 in Dharwad, had recovered explosive materials from the forest off Halligeri village, on the Dharwad-Haliyal road in Dharwad taluk.Based on the information given by Mohemmed Asif during interrogation, the CoD team led by IGP MR Pujar and DSP Satyappa Khot had taken Asif to the dense forest off Halligeri Cross, 20km from Dharwad, and unearthed the explosives. Asif had pointed out the place, and a fertiliser bag with 100 gelatin sticks, a hand grenade and 100 wire cases were unearthed. Sources stated that Asif had admitted during interrogation that he along with Mohemmed Ghouse and Adnan had deposited the explosives.