Two more persons belonging to the dreaded D-Company were picked up in Mangalore.
Detained for questioning, Ismail Kaup and Athik, the police say, were closely associated with Rashid Malabari.
The names of Ismail, a resident of Kaup and Athik who hails from Kasargod cropped up during the questioning of Malabari who came into India to undertake the assassination of Varun Gandhi and Pramod Muthalik.
Sources told rediff.com the two were in charge of the logistics for the D-Company.
During the interrogation of Malabari, it was revealed that both Athik and Ismail were local residents and they were providing logistic support to the D-Company.
The role assigned to Malabari was also to create a safe channel for the D Gang in Mangalore. He was told by his bosses to set up strong bases in the Mangalore belt. Through Mangalore, the D Gang wanted to supply both arms and ammunition and also fund hawala transactions.
Besides, they wanted to create a southern corridor starting at Mangalore which would then eventually spread to Bengaluru, Chennai and Kerala.
Intelligence Bureau officials say the modus operandi could have spilt into something larger. The D-Company and the Lashkar-e-Tayiba have been working in close circles since some time and there were plans afloat to create a souther corridor. The LeT was planning on using the route utilized by Dawood to carry out terror operations.