FIR filed against two suspects in Mumbai blast

Kishanganj (Bihar), Jul 18: An FIR was today (Jul 18) filed against two suspected Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI) members on charges of violating the Foreigners Act even as police was probing if the two had any links with the July 13 serial blasts in Mumbai.

The FIR was lodged against Md Riyazul Sarkar alias Akash Khan who was arrested on Saturday, besides Md Mahtab Alam, who was in the custody of the Pauakhali Police station in the district under the Foreigners Act, Superintendent of Police R K Mishra said.

"Sarkar claims to be an Indian and had stayed in Bangalore.We verified from Bangalore and other addresses he gave us and found the details wrong. One thing we can say is that Sarkar is not an Indian," he said.

"We have seized diaries, several SIM cards, details of bank accounts and several contact numbers. These are under investigation," he said.

Asked whether the involvement of the two in the Mumbai blasts has been established, he replied, "We are yet to establish this."

On whether the two were associated with the HUJI, Mishra said, "Though we have not received a clue I can't rule out anything." The two would be produced in court here and taken on police remand, he said.

30-year-old Md Reyazul Sarkar, who is fluent in Kannada, Gujarati and Bengali, was arrested from a house in Maheshpura village in the district. The house owner Mahtab Alam with whom Sarkar was staying for seven days was also arrested.

Sarkar was arrested from Bihar's Kishenganj district yesterday and police had seized from him a diary with Marathi notings. He was missing from the area when the Mumbai terror attack took place.

PTI