Kollam Tense, Madani Arrest Imminent
Prohibitory orders were clamped in and around the camp of PDP leader Abdul Nasser Madani at Anwarssery near Kollam, Kerala on Saturday after a large number of his supporters gathered there anticipating his arrest in connection with the Bangalore serial blasts case, said reports.
Administration imposed restrictions under IPC Section 144 as a Karnataka Police team awaited the nod from the state government to execute the arrest warrant against Madani.
Reports said that the police lobbed two teargas shells to disperse a crowd in the area but added that the situation was now under control.
The prohibitory orders remain in place in Mainagapally and nearby Sasthacottah panchyats.
A strong police contingent under Kollam SP Harshita Attalluri is already camping in the area while additional forces of Special Armed Battalion have also been dispatched.
Madani is listed as an accused in the 2008 Bangalore blasts case in which a woman was killed and 20 others injured. His anticipatory bail plea was rejected by the Karnataka High Court last week.
The PDP leader was also an accused in the 1998 Coimbatore bomb blasts case but was acquitted later.
Meanwhile, Madani’s counsel P Usman on Saturday said that the former filed a petition in the Karnataka high court seeking quashing of charges against him in the Bangalore serial blast case.
“Madani filed the petition yesterday and it is likely to come up for consideration either on August 16 or 17,” Usman said.
