Arrested student is Brahmavar Congress leader’s son

UDUPI: A day after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Reshaan Thajuddin Sheikh from Varamballi in Brahmavar, Udupi, photos of the suspect’s father, Thajuddin Sheikh, with Congress leaders are going viral. In the photographs, Thajuddin Sheikh is seen posing with Siddaramaiah, DK Shivakumar and U T Khader.

Udupi MLA K Raghupathi Bhat said on Friday that Reshaan Sheikh, an engineering student at a college in Mangaluru, who was arrested on Thursday in connection with the Shivamogga ISIS conspiracy case, is the son of a Congress leader in Brahmavar. ‘’The arrest reveals that the Congress has links with persons involved in terror activities,’’ Bhat said.

Bhat told reporters that the NIA said the arrested student hails from Varamballi, Brahmavar. ‘’Now it has been found that the student is the son of Thajuddin Sheikh, general secretary of Brahmavar Block Congress. Thajuddin is an active Congress worker and is close to KPCC president D K Shivakumar, CLP leader Siddaramaiah and MLA U T Khader. Photos proved the nexus between the Congress and those involved in terror activities,” he said.

Bhat appealed to the government to intensify investigation into the case, and conduct an investigation into “hidden suspicious activities” along the coast. The NIA should keep extra vigil on the coastal region, he demanded. The Congress should clarify whether it will remove Thajuddin from his post in the Brahmavar Block Congress, he said, adding that the government should also investigate his family background.

Bhat added that Reshaan’s mother is a lecturer at a government college in Thenkanidiyoor in Udupi, and that he had earlier complained to Minister for Primary and Secondary Education BC Nagesh that “she had spoken against patriotism and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the college”. Audio clippings of her speech had been handed over to the minister, Bhat said.

Udupi District Congress president Ashok Kumar Kodavoor said he has sought a report from the Brahmavar Block Congress Committee president.