Indian police arrest three for Mumbai blasts

Indian police have arrested three suspects over last week's Mumbai railway bombings that killed more than 180 people.

Indian police have arrested three suspects over last week's Mumbai railway bombings that killed more than 180 people.

The Indian government also urged Pakistan today to hand over a top Kashmiri militant as a gesture of its determination to fight terrorism.

The three men, all Indian Muslims, were arrested on suspicion of being involved in the July 11 attacks on packed commuter trains and stations in India's financial hub, a police official said.

Two of them were picked up from the Madhubani district of eastern Bihar state while the third man was arrested in Mumbai.

READ MORE

Police said their links appeared to come from Nepal and Bangladesh, but added they were also in some way connected to Pakistan.

The Indian foreign ministry said that Pakistan must arrest Syed Salahuddin, head of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, the largest militant group active in Indian Kashmir, and hand him over to New Delhi.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna also said New Delhi also wanted Pakistan to ban another militant group, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which the United States says is a front for the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group Indian officials say probably carried out or planned the Mumbai attacks.

Islamabad has denied any connection with the bombings and, yesterday, President Pervez Musharraf said New Delhi should desist from a "blame game" on the Mumbai blasts.

Hundreds of people, mostly minority Muslims, were rounded up for questioning by the Mumbai police in the wake of the blasts which occurred in the evening rush-hour.