Kozhikode blast: Accused to turn approver

A special court in Kochi hearing terror cases on Thursday accepted the plea of an accused in the Kozhikode blast case of 2006 to turn approver after the court found that he could give valuable information to solve the case in which enough material evidence was found wanting.

The National Investigation Agency,which had taken over the case from the state police to unravel the international ramifications behind the case,did not oppose the petition of Shammy Firoz,the seventh accused in the case. The suspected LeT militant,Tadiyantavide Nasir,is the first accused in the case. Another alleged accused,Abdul Jaleel,was dropped from the chargesheet last month. Firoz,28,a native of Parappanangadi in Malappuram,had gone to the Gulf after the blasts,in which a timer device was used for the first time in Kerala. He was arrested in March from Kochi airport,on his return from Abu Dhabi.  The police could make a breakthrough in the case only after arresting Nasir last November.

Investigators had found that it was Firoz who had informed the office of the newspapers in Kozhikode that bombs would go off at the bus stands in the city. He told the court that he went to the premises of a mosque in the city as directed by Nasir.

Firoz said he was frightened when Nasir showed him the bombs kept in two plastic covers.  Nasir had also sought from Firoz the telephone numbers of the district administration before planting the bombs.