Bhadrak: A team of Crime Brach police Friday reached Bhadrak along with two of the four arrested Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) ultras and searched a hideout in Nangamahal where the activists used to stay on rent till six months back.
Police had located the hideout of the SIMI operatives Thursday.
Crime Branch DG Bijay Kumar Sharma, IG (western range) Arun Bothra, DIG (CB) DK Sharma, Bhadrak ASP Asit Kumar Mohanty, SDPO Sudhakar Jena, local IIC Manoj Rout, and police officials of Telangana and Madhya Pradeh were part of the search operation.
Police entered the building, owned by a person named Tajmul Husain Khan, after breaking the locks. The building is located in Purunabazaar area of Bhadrak.
Police recovered pen drives, dongles, wires, batteries, mobile phones, radical literature and several pieces of objectionable material from the room.
A forensic team, sniffer dogs and a bomb disposal squad had thoroughly searched the house.
The two-hour-long search operation by the CB team drew a large number of curious onlookers from across the town.
Briefing mediapersons, Special DG of CB Bijay Kumar Sharma said search operations will be carried out in some other places of the district.
“The house owner Tajmul Hussein Khan has been detained and grilled. His involvement with SIMI activities are under the scanner. More facts will emerge,” said IG Arun Bothra.
It may be noted here that a three-member police team from Telangana had been keeping tabs on the movement of SIMI activists for the last four months. Plainclothes personnel used to tail the activists and investigate their activities, police said.
After the arrests of the four SIMI terrorists, Telangana police camped near Nangamahal and sealed the house with the help of local police.
Following a directive from Bhadrak SP, Purunabazar police raided the Nangamahal building in the wee hours of Thursday. The ultras were staying in a room on rent. Hussain Khan had rented out a room to four male SIMI activists, who he said were posing as carpenters and staff of a fertilizer plant. The SIMI activists used pay Rs 1,000 as rent per month.
The house owner told police they used to go out in the morning and return late in the night. For the last three months, they have not paid the house rent, the owner said.
PNN
