POLICE GATHER VITAL CLUES IN BOMB-THROWING CASE IN KALOOR

Abandoned bike, blood-stained shirt found at Mamangalam

The city police found an abandoned motorbike and a blood-stained shirt which they suspect may have belonged to those who threw bombs at a residential complex at Kaloor on Saturday.

The police found the motorbike and shirt on Mangalam lane at Mamangalam here on Sunday. Forensic and finger-printing specialist teams arrived on the spot to examine the items. A bomb detection team also examined the area at Revathi Court Apartments at Kaloor where assailants on a motorbike threw low-intensity bombs on Saturday evening.

“The explosives used were low-intensity country-made ones and could not have caused any serious injury to any person. The motive was probably to threaten someone rather than cause harm,” said a police officer. Police officers suspect that the attack was a follow-up of a brawl between rival gangs that occurred outside the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court here on Friday. Members of rival gangs allegedly led by ‘Bhai’ Naseer and Maradu Aneesh had locked horns after they were brought to the court for a trial. The sequence of events has raised concerns about the resurgence of ‘quotation’ gangs in the city.

Deputy Commissioner of Police V.M. Muhammed Rafeeque said the culprits would be apprehended soon. “The police are taking the case seriously just like every other case we handle. Arrests can be expected very soon,” he said. Sources said a Special Investigation Team was likely to be formed to investigate the incident.

DCP Rafeeque said the incidents could not be seen as an escalation of gang-related violence. “The city had the most number of cases booked under the Goonda Act in the State this year. The situation is under control. The gangs supposedly involved in the incident mainly operate in Tamil Nadu and do not have any activities here,” he said.

Police sources said the feud between the rival gangs had begun after Sinoj, an associate of Maradu Aneesh, was shot dead by the Tamil Nadu police at a lodge at Dindigul in March 2012, allegedly following a tip-off by Naseer. The murder of a businessman named Imitiaz Khan here in March this year was also suspected to be a part of the rivalry between the two gangs.