Bengaluru terror plot: Grenades seized from suspects not manufactured in India, say police

“All (the grenades) were intact and ready to use. They are not manufactured in India. Though the manufacturer’s name or country is not mentioned, the investigation indicates that they were smuggled from abroad,” a senior CCB police officer said.

The police officer said that the accused, who worked as auto drivers, mechanics and workers in welding shops, had received lakhs of rupees as funding. “We suspect that the people in our custody were not the ones who would execute (the terror attack) as they were not trained to use it. We suspect that it would have changed hands,” the officer added.

The police now believe that prime suspect Junaid Ahmed, who is abroad, is the key link that will help them uncover the larger conspiracy. “He has left India with a valid visa and we know where he has gone but further movements are yet to be tracked,” the police officer said. The entire module runs on a need-to-know basis and the supplier and the receiver do not know each other, the officer added.

Ahmed, a sheep trader in Bengaluru’s Sultanpalya, was arrested in October 2017 when he and his associates allegedly murdered Noor Ahmed, another trader. He had spent 18 months in Bengaluru central prison where he met T Nasir, an accused in the 2008 Bengaluru serial bomb blast case and was reportedly radicalised. “After the arrests, we questioned Nasir but he did not utter a single word. He is well trained and knows how to deceive the police,” the officer said. Ahmed was also arrested in December 2020 after the police seized 502 kg of red sanders from his home.

“This is a fit case for the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take up as we have got several documents and it might be inter-connected with other terror plots across the country. We have shared the case details,” the officer added.