In 2013, Operation Puttur helped to crack half-a-dozen terror cases

Well-planned action: One of the two terror suspects being brought out of the hideout at Puttur in Chitoor district. The police also seized a large quantity of explosives at the house.
| Photo Credit: PTI

On October 28, 2011, hours before senior BJP leader L.K.Advani was to cross the road while going to Kerala on his Jan Chetna Yatra, the police detected a PVC pipe stuffed with explosives. It weighed six kg and was connected to a 12-volt battery below a causeway at Alampatti near Thirumangalam near Madurai. Mohammed Haroon and four others were arrested in the case. On March 19, 2013, a gang hurled pipe bombs at K. Murugan, 45, a former BJP municipal councillor, and hacked him to death in the main bazaar of Paramakudi while he was returning home for lunch. Initially, four suspects were arrested. On July 1 that year, Hindu Munnani State secretary Vellaiyappan, 45, was attacked on the head by a gang while he was riding his two-wheeler to the Ramakrishna Mutt in Vellore.

On the night of July 19, 2013, ‘Auditor’ V. Ramesh, 54, who was the BJP State general secretary twice and a Hindutva hard-liner, was hacked to death by a gang at his house at Maravaneri, Salem, after he returned from a meeting. On October 23, 2012, Arvinth Reddy, 38, the BJP State medical wing secretary, was stabbed by a three-member gang in front of his clinic at Kosapet in Vellore. Next month, the police arrested six accused persons, including Vasur Raja, who admitted to the crime. Suresh Kumar, a Hindu Munnani functionary, was hacked to death outside his shop near the Ambattur Old Terminus on June 18, 2014, for allegedly making a hate speech at a public meeting held at Avadi on December 6, 2012.

The main accused at large

The murder of Hindutva leaders rocked the State. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa took stock of the situation and brought in a major change in the intelligence department. She appointed senior IPS officer Amaresh Pujari as the Inspector-General of Police, Intelligence, and P. Kannappan as the Inspector-General of Police, Internal Security. A former police officer said that though a few persons were arrested for these murders, political killings continued. “Hence, we concluded that the main accused was yet to be caught. Phone-mapping was done to trace the suspects who were at large. One of them was Fakrudeen who had been evading arrest since 2005 after he jumped parole while serving a sentence in a bomb attack case. We got information that the gang was planning to murder a public figure during the Tirupati Kodai procession in north Chennai. Fakrudeen had codenamed the plan Operation Mottai (‘mottai’ means tonsured head),” he said.

Waiting at Chennai Central

Inspectors Lakshmanan and Ravindran were waiting for Fakrudeen at Chennai Central. He came as expected, and the plainclothesmen followed him as he took a bus. Getting down at Choolai, he went to a tea shop. The inspectors approached him and had a chat to ascertain his identity. Instantly, a woman constable who happened to see them quickly reported to inspector Veerakumar that three persons were quarrelling near the shop. She was not aware that Lakshmanan and Ravindran were policemen. Veerakumar and others quickly caught Fakrudeen, alias Police Fakrudeen, after a chase. He was wanted in the murder cases. It was a breakthrough as Fakrudeen, leading an outfit called Muslim Defence Group, could not be caught for eight years. But his luck ran out on October 4, 2013.

He was grilled for several hours by officers of the Special Investigation Division, intelligence units, and the Central agencies. He proved to be a tough nut to crack at first. But he disclosed the plan during the sustained interrogation. An officer said that he was blindfolded for hours together for inquiry. Yet, he identified Mr. Kannappan, the IGP, on hearing his voice. Then the officer told the personnel to remove the blindfold and apply eyedrops since Fakrudeen’s eyes were swollen. He was given food. At 11.30 p.m., he spilled the beans.

The police learnt that two more associates were staying at Puttur in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh with a plan to sabotage the Brahmostavam festival at Tirumala. At odd hours, Mr. Kannappan and eight policemen rushed to Puttur in two cars and a few other policemen went over there from Tiruvallur district. They reached Puttur, a sleepy town, by 3 a.m. on October 5, 2013. ‘Gate Puttur’ was tense until the two armed Muslim activists were captured after an 11-hour operation. A house on Masjid Street was the hideout. When the police team attempted to enter the house in the early hours, the suspects dragged special branch inspector Lakshmanan into the house and attacked him with knives. Policemen slowly moved the residents from the vicinity before dawn. Suspects Bilal Malik and Panna Ismail and Bilal Malik’s wife and three children were holed up in the house.

In an attempt to save his life, a Deputy Superintendent of Police opened fire, injuring Panna Ismail. When the police attempted to barge into the house, the suspects warned them that they would trigger an explosion. In the meantime, personnel of the Organisation for Counter Terrorist Operations of the Andhra Pradesh Police joined the operation. As repeated appeals to the suspects failed, the police drilled a hole on the ceiling and dropped teargas shells into the house. Ismail, the woman, and the children ran out. At 3 p.m., the police entered the house, nabbed Malik, and seized a large quantity of explosives.

Living in the guise of traders

Malik and Ismail came to Puttur in the guise of traders and rented two houses. They were said to have confessed to planning the killing of BJP and Hindu Munnani leaders. They were also wanted by the Bengaluru police for the Malleswaram blast case in 2013. Fakrudeen, Bilal Malik, and Panna Ismail have been trial prisoners for the past 11 years in half-a-dozen cases. Defence lawyer B. Mohan agreed to conduct the trial before the special court on behalf of Fakrudeen. Special Public Prosecutor C.S.S.Pillai said the trial was under way in three cases, while the other cases were at different stages.