The several arrests in the city with alleged terror links have established the existence of terror sleeper cells in the city. However, the involvement of “specialists” from Maharashtra in assisting their colleagues in Bengaluru, shows that an active and bigger cell than found in Karnataka might be operational in Maharashtra.
Earlier in September, the police arrested Mohammed Akram alias Khalid, a 22-year-old native of Islampur in Nanded, Maharashtra. According to the police report filed before the magistrate, the police had got credible information that Akram was moving towards KSRTC bus stand in Subashnagar in an autorickshaw (KA-02 -AB-6932). At 8.55 pm on September 1, he was intercepted and arrested.
The police say that in his confession, Akram gave the police the names of two other operatives, besides Zakeer alias Ustad, who was handling the Karnataka operations. The two names that are baffling the police are Furkhan and Abdu Hansala about whom the others arrested in the case have not even heard about.
It has emerged that it was Zakeer who had contacted Akram 10 days before Ramzan and had asked him to assist the others in accomplishing the mission to kill a right wing journalist.
While the other suspects were taking instructions from Zakeer, the latter was coordinating strategies with several modules, including the one in Maharashtra.