The Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra police, in a joint operation, recently busted a sleeper cell and picked up three terror suspects who were staying in a rented house in Dharwad for the last four months. Sources in the Police Department said the operation was conducted based on a tip-off from the Anti-Terrorist Squads of AP and Maharashtra that were monitoring the movements of the suspects. The three were living in the house on fake names and claimed to be cloth merchants from Kalaburagi. A senior police officer said the suspects were involved in terror attack cases in Chennai, AP and Mumbai. They were helping one of their injured associates get treatment in Dharwad.
Hubli-Dharwad Police Commissioner B.A. Padmanayana, however, denied there was any such operation. But, official sources in Bengaluru confirmed that the three persons, who are suspected to belong to a banned terror outfit, had been taken to an undisclosed location for questioning.
Probe intensifiesADVERTISEMENT
N. Dinesh Nayak reports from Dharwad: Officials from the State ATS asked the owner of the house about details on the suspects. The police are visiting cyber cafes and phone booths, and procuring data from mobile tower locations.