NIA rules out Kerala link in Delhi HC blast

KOCHI: Proving recent reports on Kerala links with the Delhi blast wrong, the NIA team probing into the blast has confirmed that no Keralite was involved in the case.Highly placed sources with NIA told Express that “not even a single South Indian was involved in the Delhi blast case.” As per the available evidence, so far the agency had not found any Kerala links.“Currently the investigations are midway. Initial reports regarding the involvement of Keralites has not been established in our probe,” a top NIA official said.The investigation is carried out by a team comprising DIG Mukesh Singh and three SPs. One unit of the investigation team is currently stationed in Srinagar, where they are probing the alleged involvement of terrorist outfits from across the border in the blast. The blast outside the Delhi High Court in September 2011 had claimed 13 lives and left 88 injured. Soon after the blasts, there were widespread reports of a Keralite behind the attack. As per the reports, a person from Kodungallur has been identified. However the NIA team completely ruled out these reports. At an earlier stage it was suspected that sleeper cells of banned terrorists groups from Kerala might have had a role in the blast.The agency questioned Thadiyantavida Nazir in Bangalore Jail to ascertain the Kerala links.Kerala links were suspected as a couple of Keralites had passive involvement in some major bomb blasts across the country. Earlier the Central Intelligence agencies had sent an alert that Kerala is a new ground for diverting fund from gulf counties for terrorist activities. The officials said that three persons have been arrested so far in the case. “We are looking for the person who had placed the bomb. A clear picture about the persons involved will be available soon,” they said.The NIA has already announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh to the person who can give a lead in the case. Abid Hussain, Amir Abbas Dev of Kishtwar in Jammu and Wasim Akram Malik, a Jammu and Kashmir native studying Unani medicine in Bangladesh are the three accused who are in judicial custody in connection with the case.