Sounds of Terror

Man arrested in connection with Bangalore blasts was a guitarist in Kerala

Sounds of Terror

Man arrested in connection with Bangalore blasts was a guitarist in Kerala

The 57-year-old man arrested for last year's serial blasts was once a guitarist and a music teacher.
u00a0
Edapana Thodika Zainuddin alias Abdul Sattar alias Abdul Salam Alias Saleem, who made the bombs used in the Bangalore and Ahmedabad blasts, told the police that he had been a small-time electronics repairman at Kondotty in Kerala's Malappuram district. He has also worked in Hyderabad, Ajmer and Saudi Arabia.
u00a0

At Kozhikode, he had learnt to play the electric guitar and performed with several orchestras.
u00a0

He claimed he had even taught western music at the well-known Feroke College near Kozhikode.

Gone wrong

According to the police, Sattar said he had been drawn to the preachings of religious organisation Silsila Nooria Tareeqath since 1970, and was upset when the Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992 and communal riots erupted in Malappuram.
u00a0
He recalled a bomb blast in his locality that killed one person, after which the police arrested an alleged RSS member.
u00a0
After hearing about the incident, Sattar said he went about procuring gelatine sticks, resistors, capacitors and timers and made 200 pipe bombs with the help of Shoaib Chammadi, an acquaintance he met at a SIMI meeting. Police questioned him when villagers found the bombs, but he reportedly feigned ignorance.

Sattar has reportedly revealed that his group had planned blasts at 20 places in Bangalore, but cut down the number to 10 for want of men to carry bombs hidden in flower pots.

Among the sites they had chosen were the Vidhana Soudha, Bangalore High Court and Infosys, but they changed their plan, as the targets were high security zones, police said.

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels