COIMBATORE: Police claimed to have foiled the plot to assassinate two prominent Hindu outfit functionaries with the arrest of six persons allegedly belonging to a radical Islamist outfit known as Wahabi-e-Islam, here on Wednesday. In what was termed as the culmination of a three-day operation by police, six persons - N Saddam Hussein (24), of Nawab Hakeem Road, A Nowsath (30), from Sukrawarpet, Y Rahmathullah (24), from Oppanakara Street, M Abdul Rasheed, from Saramedu, H Mohammed Azharuddin (27), from Fathima Nagar, and the main accused Syed Abdul Rahman Umari (30), from Selvapuram - were arrested.

The gang had allegedly hatched a plot to assassinate Moogambikai Mani, a Hindu Munnani speaker, and the president of Indu Makkal Katchi Arjun Sampath.

Sources said that the lead came from the custodial interrogation of Kaja Mohideen (47) and a 17-year-old boy, who were picked up from Cuddalore on June 20 following the murder of K P Suresh Kumar, secretary of the Hindu Munnani’s Tiruvallur district unit.

The duo reportedly told their interrogators that two separate meetings had been conducted in Tirupur and Coimbatore to rope in volunteers for assassinating Moogambikai Mani and Arjun Sampath.

Based on the information, the police commissioner A K Viswanathan formed a special investigation team headed by the assistant commissioner of police Ramachandran to trace the would-be assassins.

Sources told Express that the men had reconnoitred the areas where Moogambikai Mani and Arjun Sampath were residing for five days between the end of

July and the start of August this year. All six were booked under sections 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy), 153 (a) (promoting enmity between different groups) among others, of the IPC.