KCOHI: In a case of robbery for terror funding, the Crime Branch on Tuesday arrested two suspects alleged to be the accomplices of terror convict Thadiyantavide Nazir.K P Shabeer, 33, brother of hard core terrorist K P Sabir, and Ismail alias Bomb Ismail, 33, of Pukattupadi, Kochi, were arrested from Shimoga and Kochi respectively by the Crime Branch (Organised Crime Wing).They were arrested in connection with a robbery where the duo fled with 2.25 kg of gold from a jewellery owner at Kizhakkambalam, Ernakulam, ten years back.The incident occurred on June 26, 2002, when owner of the Kachapally jewellery Mathew John and his son Anil and Binil were returning home. They were attacked by a group of nine persons, including Shabeer, with swords. They also threw a bomb when local people came to the rescue of Mathew and his sons.After interrogating the duo, the Crime Branch officials came to know that T Nazir and Sabir were also involved in the case and the robbery was conducted for funding jihadi activities.Investigating officer Biju K Stephen told ‘Express’ that the incident was the first major operation carried out by the terror groups to raise funds for their activities in the state. The Crime Branch suspects that several such robberies reported during that period could have been done by these people solely for raising funds. “Similar cases were reported from several parts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. One such case was reported in Mattancherry in 2002,” sources in the Crime Branch said.Shabeer and Ismail were produced before Kolencherry Judicial Magistrate and remanded in police custody till June 4. The Crime Branch will also take Thadiyantavide Nazir into custody in the first week of June. The arrests were made by a Crime Branch team comprising superintendents Muhammed Faisal, P Unniraja, DySPs P Prakash, P M Varghese and Biju K Stephen. The Crime Branch got a lead in the case after the lab results of the bomb revealed that the chemical used in it was similar to that in the Bangalore and Coimbatore blasts.There are 11 accused in the case - K P Shabeer, T Nazir, Imam Ali, K P Sabir, Vedimarayiloola Thajudheen, Bomb Ismail and five others from Tamil Nadu. Imam Ali and three others were killed in an encounter with Bangalore police after the Bangalore bomb blast.Sabir is still absconding and security agencies believe that he has escaped to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Thajudheen is jailed in Bangalore.
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