7/11 trail leads to Kashmir, one held

The Mumbai police have arrested a Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist from Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch in connection with the July 11 Mumbai blasts. The arrested man was allegedly entrusted with the task of establishing a terror network in Mumbai.

The arrest is seen as a significant development in the probe.

A Special Investigation Team of the Mumbai police assisted by the counterintelligence wing of J-K Police raided a hideout in Sanai Potha belt of Surankote in Poonch on Thursday and arrested Abdul Hameed.

Soon after the arrest he was whisked away to the Joint Interrogation Centre in Poonch, where cops from both departments grilled him.

The most important clue that led to Hameed's arrest was his identity card found at the blast site at Mumbai's Matunga station.

The card was issued by a private security agency in Mumbai for which he was working as a guard.

When his whereabouts were verified, he was found that he had not reported for duty since the blasts, the sources said.

During preliminary investigation, security agencies found that Hameed was part of a Lashkar module and had been deployed in Mumbai during the past one and a half years to establish a network and accomplish the tasks of LeT, they said.

Hameed had been close to the LeT 'divisional commander' in Poonch, Abu Usama, and is believed to have been directly receiving instructions from top LeT leaders across the border to trigger blasts in Mumbai, they said.

After seeking remand from the local court in Poonch, he will be taken in a special aircraft to Mumbai.

During interrogation, Hameed has revealed some vital information regarding the Mumbai blasts and some more arrests are likely to take place in Baramulla and Poonch districts of

the state, the sources said.