A 21-year-old youth, believed to be the son of a Hyderabad cleric — an accused in the murder case of Gujarat BJP leader Haren Pandya — is among four persons arrested by the Karnataka police from the Davangere and Hubli region during the course of an investigation into an alleged motorcycle theft racket over the last fortnight.

Ziauddin Nasir alias Mohammed Gouse has been identified by local police as the son of Maulana Naseeruddin or Mohammed Naseeruddin, arrested in Hyderabad in November 2004 by the Gujarat police, amid huge furore, for allegedly being part of the conspiracy to kill Haren Pandya.

Nasir was arrested in Hubli after his roommate, Mohammed Asadullah, 23, hailing from Hospet in Karnataka, was nabbed on January 13 in the course of an investigation into motorcycle thefts in Honnali area of Davangere.

According to Davan-gere police, they initially thought Asadullah, a dropout from the Ayurved Mahavidyalaya in Hubli, was stealing motorcycles for money but later found that he had not sold the stolen bikes.

Asadullah led Davangere police to his rented house in Hubli and to Ziauddin Nasir, who claimed to be working as a cook for Asadullah, police sources said. They also claim to have found inflammatory literature at the premises.

Following these arrests, police say they were led to the hostel rooms of two final year medical students of Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences — Mohammed Asif, a native of Raichur in Karnataka and Mirza Ahmed Baig. According to the police, jihadi literature was found in the hostel room of Md Asif.

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