Those arrested are Ibungo Singh alias Chulamba (29), a self-styled lieutenant who had to discharge the duties of an officer, Sergeant Major Laikhu Ram Jiten Singh alias Dada (30) who was the project officer in charge of collecting money and Joney alias Nanao (26), all of them Manipuri nationals who are wanted in many cases of bomb blasts, extortion and other terror activities. The other three arrested are Megan Chander (29), Vikas Pradhan (24) and a foreign national from Yemen, Almer Mohammed (23).

The MI was tracking the extremists for the past one month and after enough evidence against them was gathered, decided to zero in and make the arrests. Following a raid at C V Raman Nagar in Bangalore's Mahadevpura locality Chalamba and Jiten Singh were picked up. Their interrogation revealed that the other four were lodged at a dwelling near Hebbal flyover and after another raid, they too were taken into police custody.

According to sources, the police recovered six mobile phones, 10-15 SIM cards, around 30-35 compact disks and other documents from the extremists. The Manipur police have also reportedly arrived in Bangalore to take them into custody. While Jiten Singh is suspected to have links with the ISI, sources said the foreign national was suspected to have Al Qaeda connections, which are yet to be conclusively proved.