WORLD / Asia-Pacific

3 arrested in Bombay train bombings probe
(AP)
Updated: 2006-07-21 11:40

Indian police investigating the Bombay train bombings have arrested three men, the first arrests in the case, India's NDTV news channel reported Friday.


An unidentified man lights a candle in memory of the people who died in the July 11 bomb blasts in Bombay, in Patna, India, Tuesday, July 18, 2006. The blasts killed 207 people and injured more than 800. [AP]

Police were interrogating the men over their role in the July 11 bombings that killed 207 people and wounded more than 800, NDTV reported.

Police could not immediately be reached.

Two of the men were arrested in the northern state of Bihar late Thursday and the third man was arrested in Bombay early Friday, NDTV said, quoting police sources.

Investigators have detained hundreds of people across the country for questioning since the bombings, but these three are the first to be formally arrested. The men were set to appear in a Bombay court later Friday, NDTV said.

Police and officials have repeatedly suggested Islamic militants fighting Indian rule in Kashmir ¡ª namely the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyaba ¡ª are behind the blasts.

Kashmir is a predominantly Muslim Himalayan territory divided between India and Pakistan, and is claimed in entirety by both nuclear-armed countries.