Mumbai blasts: Indian triple bombing suspect held in Nepal

Nepalese police downplay arrest while investigations are underway.

KATHMANDU:

Nepalese police have detained an Indian man in connection with the triple bomb blasts in Mumbai on July 13 that killed 24 people, a police source confirmed on Tuesday.

The officer who spoke on condition of anonymity identified the man as a 43-year-old from the eastern Indian state of Bihar. “He was arrested on suspicion of links with the Mumbai blasts,” he said, explaining that the police was probing text messages and phone calls to someone in Mumbai. Anti-terrorist police had raided his apartment in Kathmandu on Saturday, he said.

It will be the first arrest anywhere in connection with the recent Mumbai explosions.

Nepal police spokesman Nawaraj Dhakal confirmed that an Indian man had been detained but denied it was related to the Mumbai blasts. A police source, who claimed having taken part in the operation to arrest the suspect, suggested senior officers wanted to downplay the detention while investigations were underway.

State-run Nepalese newspaper Gorkhapatra and Indian television channel CNN-IBN also reported on Tuesday that an Indian man had been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the Mumbai blasts.

The development will provide valuable clues to police in Mumbai who have struggled with the case despite deployment of forensic teams and top detectives. No one was immediately available for comment from Mumbai police regarding the arrest in Nepal.





Published in The Express Tribune, July 27^th, 2011.