The State government on Thursday told the Karnataka High Court that some of the persons, who were arrested in connection with the murder of Rudresh, a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, were in regular contact over phone with a prominent leader of the Indian Mujahideen, a banned terror group.
Also, some of the suspects have links with Al Ummah, a terror group banned by the Tamil Nadu government, and some other organisations engaged in anti-national activities.
State Public Prosecutor-II Sandesh J. Chouta made these disclosures during the hearing of petitions filed by four suspects, who have questioned invoking of the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Union government’s suo motu decision of handing over the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Pointing out that the probe by the Bengaluru city police did not find any personal motive amongst the accused persons for murdering Rudresh, the SPP told the court that the probe found that classes were conducted for the suspects during which they were shown videos, they were motivated to carry out the attack.
Mr. Chouta submitted that they were trained to kill a person in one blow by cutting the carotid artery on the neck, and that the assailants were assigned the task of killing two persons but the matter stopped with the death of Rudresh.
Contending that ingredients of investigation material warranted invoking of the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, he argued that the suspects have no right at the stage of investigation to question under which provision of the law they have to be booked and which agency will probe the case.
Justice John Michael Cunha, who heard the arguments, has reserved his verdict.
