Karnataka terror trail opens can of worms

The terror trail in Karnataka seems to be deepening. Recent arrests indicate that more and more techies were being inducted to carry out terror operations. The arrest of Yahya Khan, president of the Karnataka unit of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India, has opened a can of worms.

Interrogations reveal he had been recruiting several persons form IT firms in Bangalore to be part of the terror organization. At present there are at least 16 techies in Bangalore who are on the run.

The 16 techies were part of the recruitment drive launched by Yahya Khan. They managed to go underground following the spate of arrests that have been taking place in Karnataka over the past few weeks.

Sources, however, say these persons do not have any direct link in the terror plot, which was busted recently in Karnataka. However, they were all members of SIMI and had actively taken part in several meetings recently.

The police are probing about a new organization floated by them following the imposition of ban on SIMI.

Also on top of the cops' list are three persons -- Sibli, Safdar and Adnan. Cops believe these persons could reveal more information about the plot and the plan hatched by Yahya.

While there is not much information about Safdar, cops say Adnan will be a prize catch as he is suspected to be hiding with AK-47 rifles. This was revealed during the interrogation of Nasir, who was picked up in the North of Karnataka.

Nasir had revealed that the entire plot was planned by Adnan and he managed to escape soon after the arrests were made. P S Sibli, cops believe, is a native of Kottayam in Kerala and a software engineer by profession. Sources said Sibli was in Mumbai during the train blasts and had fled from there soon after the incident.