About 17.5 kg of explosives seized from the hideouts of terror suspects – Fakruddin alias ‘Police’ Fakruddin, Bilal Malik and Panna Ismail – during the special operation jointly carried out by the Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh police teams at Puttur in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday were either safely exploded or defused by the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) at a dry tank bed in Otteri here on Thursday.
The operation, which lasted over three hours from 2 p.m., was carried out after obtaining the permission of the court of the Judicial Magistrate (JM)-3, Vellore on Wednesday.
A deafening sound was heard in the area when the seized explosive materials were exploded.
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Some of the remote-controlled explosive devices were defused. A BDDS member, wearing a protective jacket, was at the spot to check if the explosive materials had been properly defused.
Fakruddin and Bilal Malik are in the legal custody of the Special Investigation Division (SID) of the Crime Branch CID in Vellore.
They were arrested in connection with the murder of leaders of various Hindu outfits in the State, including ‘Auditor’ Ramesh of Salem, in the last one-and-a-half years.
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The CB CID Inspector, Annadurai, told the court on Saturday that Fakruddin had confessed to the CB CID that he and the other two associates had committed the murders.