In a new twist to the Mulund bomb blast case, police have recovered an AK-56 rifle allegedly belonging to prime accused Saquib Nachan.
The rifle was recovered recently during a raid on a house in Padgha village, police said, adding that it was given to Nachan by suspected Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist Abul Sultan who was killed in an encounter at suburban Goregaon on March 29.
Nachan, a suspected activist of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India, was arrested under Prevention of Terrorism Act on April 10. He hails from Padgha-Borivali village in Bhiwandi taluka of Thane district.
Three more persons were later arrested in connection with the Mulund blast. During interrogation they revealed that weapons were passed on to Nachan by suspected LeT activists, police said.
The police then raided the village and recovered the rifle. Nachan has been remanded to police custody till April 29 by a special court.
He is facing the charge of conspiracy to engineer the blast in a local train at Mulund railway station in which 11 persons were killed.
Police allege that Nachan was absconding while the accused claimed that he was residing in Padgha village.
Nachan's father had filed a petition in the Bombay high court alleging that police wanted to kill his son in an encounter.
The judges, however, asked Nachan to surrender immediately. He then appeared before the court and was taken into custody.
Nachan denied police allegation that he had connections with SIMI.