By Shivakumar G Malagi
Bellary, Feb 17, 2010:Four Kashmiri men were taken into cus- tody in Hampi on Wedn- esday in connection with Saturday's terror attack on German Bakery in Pune.
A police team from Pune, following specific clues in emails sent from IP addresses in Hampi, detained the four suspects who sources said sold arte- facts in Virapura Gadde Island in the Tungabhadra river. Investigating officials are looking for three other suspects in the heritage town that draws thousands of foreign tourists every year. In Virapura Gadde, where a franchise of German Bakery is located and from where the emails were sent, seven Internet cafés were shut down since Tuesday evening.
Fearing for their safety, many foreign tourists stay- ing in resorts on the island, a kilometre from Hampi by coracle, started moving to hotels in Hampi and Hospet after news spread of the suspects being taken into custody. Investigators believe that part of the Pune attack conspiracy could have been hatched in Hampi, sources said.
The Pune police team arrived in Hampi after car- rying out investigations in Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada district, the hometown of terror outfit Indian Mujahideen co-founder Riyaz Bhatkal.
The Kashmiri community in Hampi has been under the scanner before, with the Bengaluru police arresting a suspected Kashmiri ter- rorist, Imran Jalal, in Hampi in January 2007.
Jalal established the now- defunct Kashmiri-Raja- sthani Handicrafts Shop Owners' Association that comprised over 35 Kashmiris.
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