7/11 probe: 3 suspected LeT men held in Mumbai

The three were produced before a local court on Friday afternoon, which remanded them to police custody for ten days.

In a prize catch, the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Mumbai police has arrested three persons, two of them from Bihar, for their alleged complicity in serial blasts in commuter trains on July 11 and seized 1.5 kg of gunpowder from them.

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Kamal Ahmed Mohammed Vakil Ansari (32) and Khalid Aziz Raunak Aziz Sheikh (24) were arrested on Thursday from Basupati village in Madhubani district of Bihar while Mumtaz Ahmed Maqbool Ahmed Choudhary (38) was arrested from Turbe in Navi Mumbai on Thursday night, ATS officials said.

The three were produced before a local court on Friday afternoon, which remanded them to police custody for ten days, till July 30.

While initial reports suggested that they had been arrested under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), ATS officials told Magistrate AV Shete that the trio had been arrested under the provisions of IPC, Indian Explosive Act, Explosive Substances Act and Indian Railways Act.

ATS officials told the court that they had searched the house of Ansari and seized 1.5 kg of black coloured gunpowder from his premises. The officials also told the court that they had seized mobile phones from the accused.

These are the first arrests in the case, and ATS officials were hopeful of making a headway in the probe, sources said.

Home Minister RR Patil told the assembly that three persons had been arrested, and the blasts probe was progressing at a "rapid pace".