M A I N   N E W S

Malegaon Blasts
Hindu extremist group at work?
Police picks up three in Indore

Indore/Mumbai, October 23
Three persons were picked up by the Maharashtra police from Indore and were being interrogated in Mumbai in connection with the Malegaon bomb blasts amid suspicions that Hindu extremist groups could be involved in the recent explosions in Malegaon and Modasa in Gujarat.

Top police sources said in Indore that in a secret operation, the Maharashtra police had taken three persons, Shyam Lal, Dilip Nahar and Dharmendra Bairagi, in custody from the city on October 19 in connection with a theft of a motorcycle for assisting it in the probe into the explosions.

Later, they were taken to Mumbai where their interrogation was going on in connection with the bomb blasts in Malegaon in Maharashtra, the sources said.

The police suspected that the trio had stolen the motorcycle which was used in the blasts in which five persons were killed.

In Mumbai, the Maharashtra police said it was still investigating the alleged involvement of Hindu right wing groups in the September 29 explosions in Malegaon in Maharashtra and Modasa in Gujarat.

One person was killed in the Modasa explosion. In both the incidents, bombs were placed on motorcycles parked in crowded areas.

“We are investigating the matter currently and will share the details of investigations at the appropriate time,” an Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) official said in Mumbai when asked to comment on reports that a Hindu right-wing group based in Indore was involved in carrying out the two blasts. — PTI