The State Police, it is learnt, has decided not to seek the custody of Mohammed Manzar Imam. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Imam recently from Ranchi in connection with the 2008 Ahmedabad blasts and the recent twin blasts in Hyderabad. The NIA has also arraigned him for his alleged role in setting up training camps for the proscribed Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) at Wagamon in 2007.
The State Police’s Internal Security Investigation Team (ISIT) had plans to seek Imam’s custody to investigate his role in the low-intensity blasts at the Collectorate here in July 2009, which left one injured. No headway has been made so far in the blasts case which is the last recorded anti-national activity in the State. It was suggested that Imam could give leads in the case.
However, Ajeetha Begum, Superintendent of Police, ISIT, said that Imam was not wanted in any case being investigated by it. “He is not wanted in any of our cases, but we will access details of the interrogation that NIA may be able to share as part of our move to profile all suspects arrested in anti-national cases,” she said.
The Kerala Police team, which probed the collectorate blasts case, identified K.P. Sabir, suspected to have direct links with Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Ayoob, hailing from Vedimara in rural district, as the prime suspects. But the police were not able to get their custody. Their presence was traced to a few Central Asian countries, with which India does not have extradition treaties. The ISIT could not make any progress in this case and was expected to seek Imam’s custody to get more information on Sabir and Ayoob, his alleged associates.
However, senior police officials in the State consider the blasts to be a case of political mischief and not a serious seditious activity.
As it was learnt during the probe into the Wagamon camp, the State has been mostly been used for training and consolidation attempts. A senior police officer, who was at the helm of the drive against anti-national activities, said mainly two groups - one under Shaduli and his brother Shibili and another under Thadiyentavide Nazeer – used to operate inside the State. They engaged mostly in anti-social activities inside the State and took up operations outside.
“That no major attack has been reported since 2008 shows that the State Police has been able to put tabs on the activities of anti-national groups within the State,” the officer said. Except in the Collectorate blast, suspects have been arrested in all other cases, he said.
In a recent move, the NIA has placed a request to record Imam’s statement before the Magistrate Court under section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
