The Bada Kabrastan mosque where one of the blasts took place in Malegaon

Mumbai, Nov. 7: Two unani medicine practitioners, one of whom is a neighbour of Mohammed Ali at whose residence the bombs used in the Mumbai train strikes were assembled, have been arrested in connection with the Malegaon blasts.

Police, however, have officially denied any link between the two incidents.

Salman Farsi and Farooq Iqbal Maqdoomi were booked under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act and produced before designated court judge Mridula Bhatkar, who remanded them in police custody till November 21.

“They are part of the Malegaon blasts conspiracy. They are not the bomb planters, but were involved in the planning. We got them last night. We will be able to tell you more about their role after their interrogation,” K.P. Raghuvanshi, who heads the anti-terrorist squad of Mumbai police, said.

Farsi, who is Ali’s neighbour, was arrested from his Shivaji Nagar home in Govandi. Maqdoomi was held from his native Malegaon. “Literature related to the Students’ Islamic Movement of India was seized from their houses. Both were associated with Simi,” Raghuvanshi said.

The total number of arrests in the Malegaon blasts case now stands at five. The ATS had booked Noor-ul-Hooda and Shabbir Ansari alias Shabbir Batterywala under the Maharashtra crime act last week. On Sunday, the squad arrested a third suspect, Raees Ahmed.

Asked if any definite links had emerged during investigations into the September 8 blasts in the textile town and the 7/11 train bombings, Raghuvanshi said: “There could be some common threads. Similar explosives were used, but we can say more only after investigations are complete.”

A mix of RDX, ammonium nitrate and fuel was used in both the strikes, though the quantities, modus operandi and impact of the explosions differed.

In Mumbai, the explosives were packed in pressure cookers in seven suburban trains. The bombs were assembled in a shanty owned by Ali in Govandi’s Shivaji Nagar. In Malegaon, the bombs were assembled in the battery godown of Shabbir Batterywala and planted on bicycles.