Electronic gadgets and SIM cards used by terror suspects Fakruddin alias ‘Police’ Fakruddin and his associates Panna Ismail and Bilal Malik, who were apprehended by the police in Chennai and Puttur (Andhra Pradesh) would be subjected to forensic analysis.
Though the trio exchanged messages only in person, investigators were trying to retrieve contacts, messages and other data using cyber forensic tools, sources in the Crime Branch CID said on Sunday.
“Since several agencies were tracking the suspects, they hardly used communication gadgets. But it is possible that they might have taken photos or stored some messages. Even if such data were to have been deleted, it is possible to retrieve it,” a senior police official said.
A Vellore court on Saturday granted custodial interrogation of Fakruddin till October 11.
While Malik was remanded in judicial custody, the condition of Ismail who suffered a bullet injury and admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai was said to be stable.
Meanwhile, the Puttur police have registered cases against Bilal Malik and Panna Ismail under various sections of IPC, Arms Act, Explosive Substances Act 1908 and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967, for attacking a policeman and possessing explosives. Denying intelligence failure, Chittoor Superintendent of Police Kanthi Rana Tata said “the duo did not indulge in any acts of crime in Chittoor district and hence they were not on our radar.” Meanwhile, a special police team from Karnataka landed in Vellore to question Fakruddin the Malleswaram blast case.
