Thiruvananthapuram, August 12: The arrest of Abdul Nasser Madani, an accused in the 2008 Bangalore bomb blasts case, is likely to be delayed in view of President Pratibha Patil’s scheduled visit to his home state of Kerala. Madani was to be arrested on Thursday from Kollam, the day Patil will arrive in Kochi for a two-day visit.
The Kerala government is worried that his arrest could spark angry reactions in Kollam and other parts of the state.
Madani was arrested in 1998 for his role in blasts in Coimbatore that year. He was acquitted in 2006.
He was named an accused in the Bangalore blasts case that left one woman dead and 20 others injured on July 25, 2008.
A Karnataka police team has been camping in the Kollam, around 65 km north of state capital Thiruvananthapuram, since Tuesday night awaiting the Kerala government’s nod to arrest him. His anticipatory bail plea was rejected by the Karnataka High Court last week.
Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who returned from Vijayawada after a meeting of the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM), said the state government had not been informed about Madani’s impending arrest.
“We are yet to get an official information. We have deployed a big posse of police for VVIP duty,” he said, indicating the arrest may be deferred by two days. On Wednesday, doctors examined Madani after he complained of uneasiness.
His supporters demanded that state health authorities carry out a swine flu test. But many see this a tactic to delay the impending arrest. Thousands of supporters of the PDP leader have converged in Anwaraserri, a religious centre-cum-orphanage, where Madani has been camping for few months.
--------Agencies
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