Indian journalist arrested in connection with train bombings

INDIA: Indian police arrested a journalist over his alleged ties to an outlawed Islamic group suspected of taking part in the Bombay train bombings.

However, investigator K.P. Raghuvanshi cautioned that the journalist, Danish Sheikh, who works as an editor for the Urdu Times, an Urdu-language newspaper, is not suspected of playing any direct role in the July 11 bombings of Bombay's crowded commuter rail network that killed at least 207 people.

Rather, Raghuvanshi said he is suspected of assisting members of the Students Islamic Movement of India, a banned Islamic group that authorities say may have played a role in the series of seven bomb blasts, along with militants based in Pakistan.

Authorities have said they believe the Pakistan-based Muslim militant group Lashkar-e-Tayyaba was behind the blasts. Documents linking Sheikh with SIMI, as the group is known, were allegedly seized from his home, Raghuvanshi said.

Later Monday, when Sheikh appeared before a Bombay court, public prosecutor B.F. Heere told the court that the suspect had traveled to Iran earlier this year, and that "more than a hundred jihadi books were also found and seized from his residence."

"We suspect he sold and distributed the books on jihad in Bombay," the prosecutor said. "He was an active SIMI member and was fluent in English, Hindi, Persian, Arabic and Urdu."

Arrested under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, Sheikh was ordered held until Aug. 14. He is the 10th person arrested since the bombings, but hundreds more have been detained at various times.

Later Monday, meanwhile, Raghuvanshi said Faizal Sheikh, a Bombay man arrested last week, had received payments of 25,000 Saudi Arabian riyals (about 310,000 Indian rupees, US$6,680) just before the blasts and 12,000 Saudi riyals (about 150,000 rupees, US$3,200) after the attacks.

Sheikh, who police have said they believe is a fundraiser for Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, is unrelated to Danish Sheikh.

Raghuvanshi, speaking at a press conference, would only say the money came from "operatives abroad."

Mumbai, Tuesday, AP