Discretion of Kerala police in Madani arrest avoided trouble: Kodiyeri Balakrishnan

The discretion shown by Kerala police had helped the smooth execution of the arrest warrant against PDP leader Abdul Nasser Madani, facing charges of involvement in the 2008 Bangalore blasts, state home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said today.

In a statement here, he said the Karnataka police who had come here to arrest Madani were provided with all help despite a large group of PDP workers trying to resist the arrest by gathering at Anwarssery in Kollam where Madani was camping.

The state police was cautious enough not to make a move for the arrest for four days to avoid law and order problems during the visit of president Pratibha Patil to the state and later on the Independence day, he said.

By August 16, state police surrounded the orphanage complex at Anwarssery where Madani was staying, after chasing away the PDP activists who had been staging protests in the premises for over a week after the arrival of the Karnataka police team to arrest Madani.

However, Madani offered to surrender in a local court on the day and Karnataka police was willing to wait for his move. When that did not happen, they executed the arrest warrant the next day, which was the deadline set by the Bangalore court for his arrest.

Denying charges that the government had played a `double game' on the issue to protect Madani, he said the "smooth" arrest of the PDP leader had proved the crisis management expertise of the Kerala police.