Madani's arrest delayed

BANGALORE/THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala's CPM-led ruling Left Democratic Front and the opposition United Democratic Front have both benefited on different occasions in the past from Abdul Nassar Madani’s People’s Democratic Party. It isn't clear whether that is suggestive about the difficulty faced by the Karnataka police in arresting the PDP chairman, but as the arrest is delayed, the focus is on the Kerala police who are expected to facilitate his arrest.

For the second day after a police team from Bangalore arrived at Anwarssery in Kollam district to arrest Madani, there is little explanation forthcoming about why the arrest is delayed, even as Karnataka home minister V S Acharya said the Karnataka police was conducting itself in a transparent manner in the Madani affair.

Madani is an accused in the 2008 Bangalore bomb blasts case, and his anticipatory bail application was rejected by the Karnataka high court last week.

The Bangalore police is learnt to be ready to wait for a couple of days to get Madani. The police is also awaiting custody of two more accused in the case, Abdul Sattar alias Zainuddin, and his son Sarfuddin, who are in the custody of the Gujarat police.

According to officials, the police are desirous of getting all accused in custody before the start of the trial.

To complete the formalities and to get ready for the trial, it may take another month, they said. Bangalore city police commissioner Shankar Bidari said, "We have contacted the local SP, and the local police will arrest Madani and him over to our police. They will decide the convenient time".

The Bangalore police team had met top police officials in Kochi on Tuesday before moving to Anwarssery, where Madani is presently based, surrounded by a crowd of supporters numbering a few hundred shouting slogans protesting the imminent arrest of their leader.

Kerala home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said today that there had been no intimation to the state home secretary or the director general of police about the arrival of a police team to the state to arrest Madani.

It has not been a formal standoff yet between the Karnataka and Kerala police teams, but the delay in Madani's arrest and the statements from top officials of either state have been evocative about their respective sentiments about arresting Madani.

Speculation has also increased about the likelihood of Madani's arrest being postponed either until president Pratibha Patil's visit to the state this week is concluded or until the Independence Day celebrations are over, so as not to overburden the Kerala police.

Another explanation doing the rounds is that Madani is not keeping good health and he may need medical help before he is taken on the long journey to Bangalore.

Meanwhile, the Bangalore city police commissioner has written to the Gujarat home secretary, seeking custody of Abdul Sattar and Sarfuddin. Sattar was arrested from Hyderabad when he spilled the beans about the Bangalore blasts. After his arrest, the Gujarat police took him into their custody in connection with the Ahmedabad blast. City police commissioner Bidari said once the duo arrives in Bangalore the trial in the bomb blasts case would begin. "I hope the trial will begin by the first week of September", he said.