AFP

Jammu, Aug 5: Police have arrested a Kashmiri they believe is linked to a militant Islamic group over serial train blasts in Mumbai last month which killed 183 people, an intelligence officer said yesterday.

Abdul Hameed, 35, who was working in Mumbai as a security guard prior to the July 11 blasts, was arrested Thursday night at Potha village in Indian Kashmir's Poonch district, the officer said.

Hameed came under suspicion after Mumbai police found his identity card at one of the blast sites and discovered that since the attacks he had not reported for work at the private security agency that employed him.

With the latest arrest, police now have 11 suspects in custody in connection with the rush-hour train bombings, which also injured nearly 900 people.

"He has been picked up with the help of the Jammu and Kashmir police. He will be shifted to Mumbai," a police intelligence officer in Jammu, winter capital of Indian-administered Kashmir, said.

He said Hameed was suspected of having links to pro-Pakistan militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is fighting Indian rule in disputed Kashmir.

Police believe Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) played a role in the Mumbai bombings. Both have denied involvement.

The intelligence source said Hameed was suspected of having been sent to Mumbai to set up a Lashkar-e-Taiba module there.

He said Hameed would appear in court in Mumbai on August 7. It was not yet clear what charges he would face.