Man arrested over Mumbai attacks is undercover officer

Security officials said one of two Indians arrested for illegally buying mobile phone cards used by the gunmen in the Mumbai attacks is a counter-insurgency police officer who may have been on an undercover mission.

A senior police official in Indian Kashmir said the man, identified as Mukhtar Ahmed, is part of a semi-official counter-insurgency network whose members are usually drawn from among former militants.

The official says Calcutta police, who are holding Ahmed, have been told he is "our man and its now up to them how to facilitate his release".

The officer spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information.