Church street blast suspect arrested by Telangana police in Bengaluru

He was planning to flee after 14 terror suspects were arrested
Church street blast suspect arrested by Telangana police in Bengaluru
Church street blast suspect arrested by Telangana police in Bengaluru
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Telangana police have reportedly arrested a 30-year-old man in connection with 2014 bomb blast on Church Street in Bengaluru. The arrest is said to have been recorded on January 23.

The suspected was arrested after he allegedly confessed to have kept the improvised explosive device, reported Indian Express.

The suspect identified as Rafiq alias Alemzeb Afridi is also allegedly responsible for the July 2008 blast in Ahmedabad carried out by Indian Mujahideen and Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) cadre. The incident had killed 56 people.

He was arrested near his home in Doddanagamangala near Parappana Agrahara in south-east Bengaluru a day after NIA had arrest 14 Islamic State sympathisers across the country.

Rafiq, who has been working a mechanic in Bengaluru for three years and established as Alemzeb Afridi, is allegedly associated with a splinter group of SIMI.  He came under the radar of security agencies after it was suspected that he was making plans to flee with his wife from Bengaluru following the IS-related arrests, reported Indian Express.

NIA had also released a video of the suspect in the Church Street bombing, reported IE.

During the arrest, Rafiq allegedly stabbed a constable and tried to mutilate himself.

The motive behind the blast is yet to be ascertained. However, officials feel that it could be because of the arrest of the suspected online IS propagandist Mehdi Masroor Biswas, who operated the Twitter handle @ShamiWitness. NIA is likely to take custody of Rafiq.

This is an aggregated report from Indian Express 

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