Chennai: In a startling revelation, Tamil Nadu police claimed to have thwarted the moves of the newly floated fundamentalist group, Muslim Defence Force (MDF) to assassinate an important Tamil Nadu leader and also plant bombs in some temples in the state, following the arrests of the nine militants.

City Police Commissioner K Vajayakumar told reporters that interrogation of two terrorists arrested on November 29 had revealed their plans.

The conspiracy was hatched at a recent meeting, in which over 20 persons participated, he said, adding that the group was funded by an Islamic fundamentalist outfit headquartered in Saudi Arabia.

The MDF was headed by one of the brothers-in-law of the outlawed Al Umma activist Imam Ali, who was killed during a recent encounter at Bangalore, he said.

The arrested had links with the terrorists, who planted bombs near the Sai Baba Temple in Hyderabad recently, he said, adding that the investigation was on to find out their links with Lashker-e-Toiba.

Large quantities of bombs and detonators were also seized from the arrested, he said.

Information provided by the two militants, nabbed on Nov 29, had led to the arrest of seven others, including three from Mallipattinam. Hunt was on for others, he said.

Meanwhile, unofficial reports said one more volunteer of the organisation was picked up by the police at Vaniyambadi in Vellore district, taking the number of arrests to 10.

PTI