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Major breakthrough in Bangalore blast case

Fakir Chand in Bangalore

The Karnataka government on Wednesday claimed a major breakthrough in identifying the gang behind the bomb blasts that rocked churches at three places in the state, including Bangalore during the last one month.

State Home Minister Mallikharjun Kharge disclosed in Bangalore that the suspected gang belonged to a sect called Deendar Channabasaveshwara Siddiqui, but declined to elaborate on its whereabouts as the credentials of the organisation were being investigated by the Corps of Detectives and the state police.

"Investigations so far have revealed that the blasts in Karnataka as well as in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh were found to be the handiwork of this gang. Identical explosives were used in all the cases, except in the Hubli church," Kharge claimed. The explosives had gelatine detonators fitted with a timer device.

Asked whether the police was able to establish the sect's links with Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence, Kharge replied in the negative. "Raids and all-out searches are on to trace the origins of the sect and its antecedents," the minister asserted.

Meanwhile, the city police have formally arrested Ibrahim, the sole survivor of Sunday night's van explosion that took place an hour before a crude bomb blast rocked the St Peter's church in a city suburb. His two accomplices, Siddique and Zakir, died in the blast.

Ibrahim, who sustained serious injuries in the incident, is undergoing treatment at a city hospital. The police had informed him of his arrest in the wake of incriminating material found in his house, which was raided by the CoD earlier in the day.

The raid revealed that Ibrahim is employed as an accountant with a private firm. A personal computer, some books and pamphlets were seized. The CoD found files containing anti-Christian literature in the PC.

In a related development, state Chief Minister S M Krishna and AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu exchanged notes on the ongoing investigation into the spate of bomb blasts in churches, which have shaken the Christian community. As in Karnataka, there were three attacks on churches in AP.

Krishna sought the help of the Andhra police in pursuing leads on the antecedents of Ibrahim, whose family hails from Vijayawada. Following a tip-off from the state police, the Andhra police raided several places in Vijayawada.

Krishna also spoke to Union Home Minister L K Advani on Wednesday morning. "He briefed Advani on the ongoing investigations," said a senior official. The Chief Minister is leaving for Delhi on Thursday to appraise the Centre as well as the Congress high command of the ruling Congress, as Party President Sonia Gandhi had taken a serious note of the attacks on churches in Karnataka of late.

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