PUNE, 27 July 2006 — The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of the western Maharashtra state police arrested two Students Islamic Movement of India activists from Ujjain and three from Khandwa in the Madhya Pradesh state in connection with the train blasts in Bombay. They were brought to Bombay this afternoon and will be produced before a magistrate for police custody.
The sudden beefing of security at the Pune police commissioner’s office on Monday did raise some eyebrows and suspicion that something was serious. Though the police did not reveal anything, it later transpired that the ATS had arrested two Muslims in the city for interrogation in relation to the Bombay train blasts.
Police disclosed that Sohail Mahmoud Shaikh, 35, of Pune and Zamir Shaikh, 31, of Bombay, had been arrested in connection with the Bombay blasts. Police allege that the two were also planning to place bombs in Pune and Aurangabad during a forthcoming Hindu festival in August.
Police said that Sohail, a chemical engineer, was involved in placing bombs on the suburban trains and that the police will be able to get more information about the bombings after they complete their interrogation. Both Sohail and Zamir are former members of the SIMI.
Speaking to Arab News at their residence in a cramped area in Pune Cantonment, Sohail’s parents, father Mahmoud Shaikh and mother Hajra, said that their son was innocent. Sohail’s wife said that her husband was convent educated and was presently involved in embroidery work.
She said that a few years ago Sohail had traveled to Iran to purchase dry fruits and returned soon after. “I don’t know why people are saying he traveled to Pakistan,” she said.
Police are also hunting for a Kashmiri youth called Mujahid Geelani who is believed to be a “key operative” behind the Bombay blasts. According to intelligence agencies, Mujahid is from the Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir and for the past three years has been staying in Kondhwa, a Muslim majority suburb in east Pune.
