Mumbai police detain Varanasi blast suspect

The Mumbai police have picked up one person in connection with the Varanasi blasts of December 7, which killed two and injured several others. 

Nadim Suhaib Siddiqui was detained by the immigration authorities and handed over to the Mumbai police on Saturday evening.

Siddiqui was taking a flight to the Gulf when he was detained by the immigration authorities, , according to sources. The detention was made after a lookout notice against him.

According to the Mumbai police there was a notice against him after information about him was passed on by the Intelligence Bureau. The police also claim that the information was also passed on to the Uttar Pradesh police. The UP police are however in denial of being given information and say that this is an operation of the Mumbai police.

The Mumbai police claim that it is too early to conclude if Siddiqui was trying to flee the country. "We will need to interrogate him to find out whether he is involved in the blasts. We also need to ascertain whether he is an operative of the Indian Mujahideen," a source in the Mumbai police said.

So far the IB has been able to ascertain that the Varanasi blast was carried out by the Gulf module of the Indian Mujahideen. They had said that the blasts were planned by Dr Shahnawaz and Asadullah Akthar both of whom based in Sharjah. The foot soldiers who planted the bomb have however managed to flee to Bangladesh, IB sources said.