A maulvi, hailing from Uttar Pradesh and settled in Mulbagal and another person were taken into custody by the Central Crime Branch for questioning in connection with December 28 shootout at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, in which Prof M C Puri of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, was killed and three others received bullet injuries.

• Terror attack at IISc, Bangalore; 1 killed, 4 injured

Highly placed sources said the maulvi, settled in a mosque, and Shabeer Ahmed alias Mustaffa from Masti village in Kolar district were reportedly experts in manufacturing gelatin sticks.

People from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu used to buy gelatin from them.

The two were being interrogated by the police. Mustaffa had taken license from the Central Explosives Corporation, Chennai in the name of Kousar agencies, Narasapura in Bangalore, they added.