Just few days after the arrest of six suspected radical supporters of ISIS, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has nabbed prime accused in Bengaluru church street blast which killed one woman from Chennai.
According to the NIA Press release issued on Friday they have arrested Mohd. Rafeeq alias Jaweed alias Alam Jeb Afridi, resident of Ahmadabad, for his involvement in the Church Street blast case of Bangalore on December 28, 2014. The blast happened in front of Coconut Grove Bar restaurant and killed one civilian.
“Alam Jeb Afridi, a SIMI cadre, is also an absconding accused in NIA case relating to the organiation of a terrorist training Camp by Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) at Waghamon in Kerala. He had been absconding for more than five years and a reward of Rs3 lakhs had been announced by NIA for any information leading to his arrest. He had been residing in outskirts of Bangalore for nearly 3 years and was working as a mechanic for air conditioners”, the release said.
According to NIA, during the custody, he has confessed to his involvement in the Church Street blast case of Bangalore. As per the Press release, the accused wanted to plant bomb inside the Coconut Grove Bar restaurant but was deterred by the presence of staff and therefore he planted it outside, near the wall.
“He had done so as per his handler who had informed him about the probable visit of an Israeli delegation to the said café for dinner. In preliminary examination, he had disclosed that his handler had taught him the technique of making the bombs for which he procured the materials locally,” mentioned the release.
NIA said that the IED used in the blast is similar to the ones used in Gandhi Maidan blasts of Patna in October 2013, Bangalore Guwahaty express Train blast in Chennai in May 2014 and Roorkee blast of December 2014. As per the available information, Afridi is also suspected to be involved in the Ahmedabad blast cases of 2008. “He is considered to be a close associate of several SIMI leaders who are absconding. He has also admitted his role in committing incident of arson at the Israeli Visa Centre in Bangalore,” the release said.
The forensic examination of the IED used in Bangalore church revealed that it had Ammonium nitrate, Sulphur and Potassium Chlorate in the explosive mixture used in preparation of IED, packed in a iron pipe. Alam Jeb Afridi has been remanded to custody of NIA for 10days by the NIA Special Court at Bangalore for his custodial examination.
Afridi had come under the radar of security agencies in recent months, and was apprehended when it was suspected that he was making an attempt to flee with his wife from Bengaluru following the IS-related arrests, sources said.
On December 28, 2014, Bhavani Devi, a 37-year-old from Chennai, was killed in the blast that occurred at around 7 pm outside the prominent Coconut Grove restaurant. Devi was on a dinner outing with her extended family in the central business district.
A former resident of the Juhapura area in Ahmedabad, Afridi is alleged to have fled from Gujarat after the 2008 blasts. He is considered a close associate of a top SIMI leader Abdus Subhan Qureshi, alias Touqeer, who is still at large.