Despite all efforts of the Odisha police to nab them, the four suspected terrorists, who fled from a Bhubaneswar hotel after being asked to produce their identity proof late on Monday night, ultimately managed to escape to Andhra Pradesh through the Girisola check-gate south of Brahmapur city.
It was revealed from the CCTV footages installed at the Girisola check-gate that the Ford Ikon car bearing registration number Dl 4C 9645 used by the suspected terrorists had passed the check-gate at 4 pm on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Ganjam SP Narasingha Bhol examined the footages at the check gate.
Meanwhile, the Visakhapatnam Rural police have detained four suspected persons and seized a Toyota vehicle from them. Sources quoting Visakhapatnam Rural SP Koya Praveen said the four suspects are now being interrogated at the Nakkapalli police station.
A team of Odisha Crime Branch Taskforce officials have already left for Visakhapatnam to ascertain that whether the four detained persons visited Bhubaneswar or not.
The Odisha Police which are in touch with their AP counterparts, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and other Central agencies hoped that a clear status about the four suspected terrorists would be ascertained by Thursday afternoon. Crime Branch IG and Special Taskforce (STF) chief Arun Bothra said they were also in touch with neighbouring West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand police.
Meanwhile, the Commissionerate Police in Bhubaneswar seized another car carrying a Delhi registration number under the Badagada Police Station jurisdiction that created panic in the State about the possible terrorist network.
On Monday night at around 10 pm, the Bhubaneswar police had received information about a person conversing in English seeking to check into the Hotel Arya Mahal in the city. He was seeking two rooms for four persons. When the hotel staff asked for their ID proof, the person said he would get a passport or other proof from his friends waiting in a vehicle outside the hotel. Soon after, they all fled from the scene.
Meanwhile, Odisha’s Baragarh district police detained three suspected Iran nationals and seized a car carrying a Delhi registration number Dl-3CAA-2506. They are now being interrogated at the Bargarh district police headquarters.
According to sources, the Santro car in which the three Iran nationals were coming from Sambalpur to Bargarh developed a technical snag. They were searching for a garage. Suspecting their activities, locals informed police.