Bengaluru: Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara on Tuesday said the state government is ready to hand over the gelatin probe to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is seeking details of the investigation. Stating that the Karnataka police did a good job by finding gelatin sticks ahead of the Prime Minister's visit to Bengaluru on Sunday morning, he said the case is under investigation and declined to share further details. If the NIA wants to join the probe, our reply will be in the affirmative. Let them investigate the case, he added.
No terror angle yet
Parameshwara brushed aside queries on any terror angle to the case, saying investigations are still ongoing. A special investigation team comprising 50 personnel, including four inspectors, has been formed to probe the incident. Police are trying to determine the origin of the gelatin sticks, how they reached the location, and whether there is any connection between the threat call and the recovery.
BJP demands NIA probe
BJP leader B Sriramulu demanded a probe by the NIA, calling the incident a serious security lapse.
Suspect not cooperating
Lohith alias Lohith Krishnappa, 42, from Koramangala 8th Block, arrested for making a hoax call during the PM's visit, is not cooperating with investigations, police said. Lohith made a hoax call from a mobile phone to the police control room on Sunday morning, claiming blasts would be carried out at HAL Airport and the Art of Living Foundation — two venues of the PM — and sent threatening messages on WhatsApp. Police have seized three mobile phones and a laptop from Lohith, who is in 10-day police custody, and sent them to the Forensic Science Laboratory to retrieve data.
Investigators said Lohith, from Tamil Nadu, travelled to Sulikere and other places in Tamil Nadu from May 8 to 10. They clarified that Lohith does not have a history of making threatening calls or messages. Lohith claimed he learned about the PM's visit from Art of Living devotees.
