Mumbai train bombings prime suspect in custody

A Indian police investigator today said that authorities had apprehended “the main brain” behind the train bombings that ripped through Mumbai’s commuter rail network in July, killing 207 people.

Asif Khan was picked up on Monday and is the 16th person to be arrested in connection with the July 11 bombings.

An Indian court yesterday ordered him to be held until October 13, and police investigator KP Raghuvanshi said Khan, who also used the alias Junaid, was “the main brain behind the bombings”.

A news report yesterday said police had detained Junaid, a prime suspect in the bombings.

Special police prosecutor Raja Thackeray said Khan, 35, was wanted in two separate cases for making bombs and planting explosives.

One Indian suspect is on the run and a Pakistani bomber was killed in the blasts that took the lives of at least 207 people and wounded 700 others.

Pakistan has repeatedly denied involvement and demanded evidence. Mumbai police say the attack was planned by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency and executed by a Pakistan-based Islamic rebel group, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, and the Students’ Islamic Movement of India.