The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested a 33-year-old Kerala resident for his alleged role in the 2006 Calicut twin blasts case. The accused, identified as Mohammed Ashar, was arrested on his arrival from Saudi Arabia at Delhi airport on January 23.
“The cases pertain to the twin IED blasts that had occurred at the KSRTC and Mofussil Bus Stands in Calicut (Kozhikode) City on March 3, 2006, causing injuries to two persons besides damage to property. NIA had taken over the investigation of the cases on December 18, 2009 and had filed a chargesheet against eight accused persons, including Ashar,” the NIA said in a statement.
Trial in this case against four available accused persons was completed in August, 2011 and two accused — T. Naseer and Sagas were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Investigation by NIA had revealed that Ashar, besides the other absconding accused P. P. Yusuf, was party to the criminal conspiracy hatched by the prime accused T. Naseer and others to carry out IED blasts in Kozhikode City. The blasts were in protest over the denial of bail to Muslim accused persons involved in the Marad Communal Riots of 2003 at Kozhikode district. “Ashar and Yusuf had assisted T. Naseer in preparing the IEDs and had planted the explosive devices at the bus stands in Kozhikode City. Ashar had gone to Saudi Arabia in 2007 itself, to evade his arrest,” NIA said.
Ashar would be produced before the NIA Special Court, New Delhi to obtain transit remand to take him to Kochi for his production before the jurisdictional Special Court at Ernakulam, Kerala.