Bangalore police arrest journalist, 10 others on terror charges

State: Karnataka

Year: 2012

Date: August 29, 2012

Source:

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/bangalore-police-arrest-journalist-10-others-on-terror-charges/article3841095.ece

Arrests – Journalists

The Central Crime Branch of the Bangalore police arrested six men from the city, including an English newspaper reporter, and five from Hubli on Wednesday on charges of plotting a terrorist attack in the State. Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, the Director General and Inspector General of Police Lalrokhuma Pachau said that the accused were plotting to assassinate prominent politicians, Hindutva leaders as well as some journalists.

He dismissed earlier claims by police officers, who told reporters on the condition of anonymity, that the Uttar Pradesh police was involved in the operation. In a release, the police claimed that they recovered a 7.65 mm pistol and seven live rounds from those arrested in Bangalore. The police said that the accused were “working for the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Harkat-ul-jihad-al-islami”.

Among those arrested was 26-year-old Muthi-ur-Rahman Siddiqui a reporter who covered the higher education beat for the English daily Deccan Herald. He was arrested on Wednesday from his flat in Mubarak Mohalla of J.C Nagar along with his roommates who have been identified as MCA student Shoaib Ahmed Mirza, his brother and DRDO junior scientist Aijaz Ahmed Mirza (26), Abdullah Hakim Jamadar (25), Mohammed Yusuf Nalband (28), BCA graduate and salesman Riyaz Ahmed Byahatti (28).

Arrests

Updated On: February 23, 2013

'I hope nobody goes through what I did'

Arrests – Journalists

Muthi-ur-Rahman Siddiqui, the 26-year-old Deccan Herald reporter who was accused by the police of being part of a terrorist group, walked out of the Parappana Agrahara Central Jail here a free man on Monday evening. His first gesture was to hug Irshad Desai from the Association for Protection of Civil Rights which fought the legal battle on his behalf.

By Siddiqui’s side was Yusuf Nalband (28), a technician with a private firm and an accused in the same case along with 13 other men. The two, who spent over six months in jail until the court said there was no evidence against them, were greeted with a blitzkrieg of flashbulbs as they emerged from the prison.

“I hope nobody goes through what I did. Only I know the pain I went through,” Siddiqui told mediapersons as he was surrounded by a jubilant group comprising his colleagues from the daily as well as journalists from other newspapers who had shared the beat with him.

Source:

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/i-hope-nobody-goes-through-what-i-did/article4452920.ece