By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Kochi: The main accused in the Kozhikode twin blasts of 2006, according to the police, has been remanded for 14 days in judicial custody by the First Class Judicial Magistrate Court in Kozhikode today. Abdul Haleem, the accused, was produced before the Magistrate around noon and was remanded till August 6. The Crime Branch, reportedly, will approach the court tomorrow to seek his custody. Haleem was arrested yesterday from Kochi during the investigation of the Ernakulam blast case.
The serial bomb blasts took place in the KSRTC and Mofussil bus stands in Kozhikode on 3rd March, 2006. Two people, including a policeman, were injured in the blast. The police said that Haleem, a resident of Kannur, had confessed to his role in the Kozhikode blasts and that the blasts were done as a revenge for the Marad clashes. The police has to get hold of seven more accused in the case.
The police maintained that Haleem had a clear role in many of the terrorist acts in the state since 1998. He is accused in the major cases in the state such as the burning of bus at Kalamasseri, murder of Vinod and Azad in Kannur, fraud currency case, vehicle robbery etc. He is an expert in making bombs. Haleem and his group involved themselves in terrorist acts in the shade of the Hyderabad-based Noorisha Thareeqath. Haleem is a close associate of Thadiyantavide Naseer, who the police are searching for in connection with the Kashmir terror case (in which people from Kerala were killed in encounter with the army in Kashmir).
The police also suspect that Haleem had a role in the Bangalore blasts. Earlier he was arrested, reportedly, from Aluva while trying to steal a car. On interrogation, he had maintained that he was stealing to meet the medical expenses of his wife. But later, it was suspected that the car was to be used in the Bangalore blasts. He was again questioned in this matter and released. Haleem then went abroad and returned back in January, the police said.
Haleem was brought to Kozhikode by 5.30 yesterday evening and the Kozhikode police questioned him under the leadership of D Rajan, Crime Branch DySP, TM Aboobaker, Crime Branch SP, TK Raj Mohan, State Special Branch SP, and Jayendran, SSB DySP.
However, a newspaper in the state reported that Haleem was closely related to the police and IB when the Kozhikode blasts occurred. The police had not tried to take him in custody even though he was in Kannur and was accused/suspect in several cases, including the murder attempt on former Chief Minister EK Nayanar. The police have arrested him now since he had cut off his relations with the IB last year, said the paper.
Meanwhile, the state president of the Nooriya Silisila Thareeqath, Yusuf Nisami Shasuhuri stated that the Thareeqath group has no links with terrorism. The police and government know well that the group has been working peacefully and transparently in the religious-spiritual field for more than half a century. Islam does not allow anti-national activities. Those who indulge in such activities should be brought before law and punished. If anybody has used the name of the group for their anti-national activities, the Nooriya Silsila Thareeqath is not responsible for it, he added.