The special team, re-examining the case related to burning of a bus belonging to the Tamil Nadu Transport Corporation at Kalamassery, arrested a key accused, giving the case an entirely new dimension.
The probe has now proved that those arrested earlier in this connection were not directly involved in the case and they confessed to the crime to cover the key players.
The team arrested Navas, also known as ‘Ganju’ Navas, who is suspected to be the main link in distributing the hawala money meant for seditious activities in the State. He was also one of the first batch of persons recruited for training at Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, but was dropped due to his drinking habit, police sources said.
The police had registered a case against nine persons for burning of bus at Kalamassery on September 9, 2005. The first three accused in this case – Sherif, Ummar Farooq and Abdul Rahim – are now found to have not involved in the action. Abdul Rahim was later killed while trying to cross the Indo-Pak border at Kashmir.
Navas was arrested by the special team led by P.M. Varghese, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Thrikkakara, and was interrogated in the presence of Vinson M. Paul, Inspector General of Police, Ernakulam Range; and Manoj Abraham, City Police Commissioner.
During interrogation he has confessed to the roles of Thadiyantivide Nazir and Abdul Halim. Nazir, who is wanted in many terrorist attack charges including the twin blasts at Kozhikode bus stand, has been absconding.
