Accused produced in court, unt on for Fakrudeen

MADURAI: A day after arresting Islamic fundamentalists Abdul Rahman alias Abdullah and Ismath for their alleged role in the bid on senior BJP leader L K Advani’s life, the Crime Branch-CID’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Wednesday obtained four days custody of the accused for interrogating them.In a related development, the SIT has launched a massive hunt for a hardcore extremist S Fakrudeen alias ‘Police’ Fakrudeen, who is suspected to be the brain behind the assembly and planting of the pipe bomb along Advani’s Jan Chetna Rath Yathra route in Madurai on Friday last.Police said Fakrudeen is an active member of the Islamic Defence Force (IDF), an outlawed outfit floated by Imam Ali, who had masterminded the bomb blast in the RSS office in Chennai in 1992 in which 11 persons were killed. Ali was killed in an encounter with the police in Bangalore in 2002 after an armed group had freed him while he was being escorted to the prison.“Fakrudeen was a key accused in the case relating to attacking the police party and freeing Imam Ali. He was among the 37 persons convicted by a Fast Track Court in Madurai in January 2007 in the case,” a senior police officer said.SIT officials suspect that Fakrudeen, who had allegedly jumped bail, along with a few other hardcore operatives had masterminded the operation to place the pipe bomb along Advani’s route.“Imam Ali had been trained by militant groups in Kashmir. Despite his elimination, his sympathisers are still active in parts of Madurai and Coimbatore. Fakrudeen is one such element,” a senior officer said.Meanwhile, police on Wednesday produced Abdullah and Ismath before the Thirumangalam Magistrate A Radhakrishnan amidst tight security. Who is Fakrudeen?Fakrudeen, a 32-year old Madurai resident, known as ‘Police’ Fakrudeen in case records, is a well built man who was trained by Imam Ali in handling weapons. Son of a Sub-Inspector Sikkander Ali, he also has a history of assaulting cops. A school dropout, Fakrudeen had studied only till class VIII. He is suspected to be involved in the murder of former Hindu Munnani State president Rajagopalan.