Kerala arrest could help solve raft of criminal cases

Thiruvananthapuram: Even as police investigation continues in Bangalore of Lashkar-e-Taiba suspect Thadiyantavide Nazir, the first arrest based on his revelations was made in Kerala Wednesday.

Police arrested Shameer, who is believed to hail from Taliparamba, based on Nazir's confession that Shameer had been associated with him.

Kerala police are hopeful that further interrogation of Nazir and his accomplice Shafaz, who are being detained for questioning in Bangalore, would unearth new clues about the twin blasts in Kozhikode, the incident of burning a Tamil Nadu bus in Kochi, and the attempt on the life of former Kerala chief minister EK Nayanar and several other criminal cases that remain unsolved in the state.

Meanwhile, Kerala chief minister VS Achuthanandan beat a retreat from his stand that the inspector general for north zone, Tomin Thachankary, had gone to Bangalore to interrogate Nazir without the government's knowledge.

Making an about turn while briefing media here, Achuthanandan agreed with home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan's stand that it was with the knowledge of the home ministry that Thachankary had been sent to Bangalore.

Embarrassment

The contradictory stands adopted by the chief minister and the home minister have led to considerable embarrassment for the state government on Tuesday, and Communist Marxist Party (CMP) chief MV Raghavan said that the chief minister ought to have in his cabinet people he had faith in.

In another twist to the Nazir issue, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Ramesh Chennithala demanded that Thachankary be recalled from Bangalore.

Chennithala said that if state government did not budge on the matter, he would write to the federal home department authorities demanding the same.

There is also speculation in the state whether People's Democratic Party leader Abdul Nasser Madhani will be questioned by the police in connection with the Nazir episode.

Nazir is thought to have been a PDP supporter and Madhani has clarified that during the time he knew Nazir, the latter was not known to have any terror links.