Madani reveals he was member of Hyderabad terror outfit

BANGALORE: The interrogation of People's Democratic Party president Abdul Nassar Madani by Bangalore police is throwing up interesting material. He told them that before forming PDP, he was a member of a Hyderabad-based outfit called Noorisha Tariqat.
Police sources said Noorisha Tariqat does not exist anymore in Hyderabad, but had conducted several terror camps in Kerala.Currently, it has some members in Kerala and recently, the main functionary Alim was arrested by Kerala police in a bombing case. It had been receiving financial assistance from both within and outside the state.
A senior police officer said after the Islamic Sevak Sangh was banned in the 1990s, Madani was arrested in the Coimbatore serial bomb blasts case and was in jail for seven years. During this period, he joined the Noorisha Tariqat. After being released from jail, he launched the PDP.
Interestingly, the Bangalore blasts were planned in a room in Parappanangadi (Kerala) and at Silsila Noorisa Tariquat in Kannur (also in Kerala) in April and May, 2008. However, no one knew Madani was once a member of the Hyderabad outfit.
Madani also admitted that Nasir, prime accused in the Bangalore blasts case, had discussed the plot with him. The police confronted him about his meetings with Sarfraz Nawaz, who organized the funding for the serial blasts from West Asian countries. Though he initially denied it, Madani later admitted he knew Sarfraz Nawaz.
A senior police officer said Madani had been cooperative in the interrogation over the past three days. "Earlier, he'd vehemently counter any question we posed. We slowly persuaded him and started producing evidence we have. He is convinced he's been charged on the basis of evidence with us," he said.
Police also showed him a copy of a Supreme Court order which ruled that affidavits filed by accused in the court should be discouraged. Prior to his arrest, Madani had filed an affidavit in a Kerala court that Karnataka police had forced Nasir to implicate him in the serial blasts case. "These have softened his stand and he is opening up now,'' the officer added.