Chennai, August 9, 2013: In a joint operation, the Special Investigation Division and the Madurai Police on Thursday arrested Abdulla and Taufeeq in connection with the murder of a milk vendor in Madurai.

While confessing to the commission of the offence in full public view in Madurai on the night of June 24, Abdulla told investigators that former Al-Umma cadre ‘Police’ Fakruddin, Bilal Malik and Panna Ismail were involved in the murder of Hindu Munnani State secretary S. Vellaiyappan in Vellore on July 1, police sources said.

“The involvement of Abdulla was ascertained on the basis of visuals captured by CCTV installed on the Netaji Road in Madurai, where Suresh Kumar, a milk vendor, was hacked to death by an armed gang. He identified Fakruddin, Malik and Ismail as others in the gang,” a senior Crime Branch CID official said. Besides the statement of Abdulla, at least three eyewitnesses identified the photographs of the three suspects involved in the Vellore murder case. “The trio is also wanted by the Bangalore police in connection with the Malleswaram blast case. Since the explosive substance seized in Melappalayam, Vellore and Madurai (Advani case) are the same, we suspect the involvement of the same gang in all the three cases,” he said.

Source: The Hindu, DT. August 9, 2013.