Tanveer Mulla (31), the Students Islamic Movement of India activist, arrested in northern Karnataka two days back is proving to be a prize catch for investigating agencies who are probing the Bengaluru serial blasts.
Tanveer was arrested in Belgaum two days back and the police had recovered some incriminating material from him.
The Belgaum police who have him in their custody have recovered CDs containing information on how to prepare cylinder bombs, something very similar to the one used in Gujarat.
The investigating agency also points out that he had conducted an experiment in Bengaluru using cylinder bombs, a couple of days before the Bengaluru serial blasts.
The police are now interrogating Mulla to find out whether he had been contacted before the Bengaluru blasts as he is an expert at making cylinder bombs.
This apart the police also have information that Mulla had planned to carry out blasts on May 1. However, he had decided to abandon the plan, following the arrest of some of his accomplices.
Apart from this, the police have also recovered CDs which chalk out a training programme for terrorists. The hard disk seized from Mulla's house contains 5,400 folders in which videos and text relating to an anti-India propaganda were stored.
The police say that Mulla, the son of a photographer, was a college dropout. He had been working in Kuwait as a waiter before returning to Belgaum where he got in touch with SIMI activists Dr Munroz and others.
Following this meeting, he decided to tread the terror path. Mulla had been picked up following the Hubli blast earlier this year. However, he was let off after questioning as the police did not find enough material against him.
Mulla is the second person to be rounded up in connection with the Bengaluru blasts. The police had earlier picked up a SIMI operative by the name Samir Sadiq from Bengaluru.