Top Lashkar-e-Tayiba militant Syed Abdul Karim alias Tunda, who is wanted for nearly three dozen cases of bomb blasts and acts of terrorism in India, has reportedly been arrested in Kenya.

Kenyan Anti-Terrorism police on Friday said they had detained Tunda and would be turning him over to prosecutors for possible extradition to India.

"We arrested him today in Mombasa," a senior Kenyan police official told agencies on condition of anonymity, adding: "He is wanted for the bombings in Mumbai. He will be handed over because he is on the wanted list."

Amidst reports of Tunda's arrest, authorities in New Delhi have approached Naiorbi seeking confirmation of his detention.

Senior Central Bureau of Investigation officials said on Friday that if Tunda's arrest is confirmed by the Kenyan authorities, India would press for his deportation as he is an Indian national.

"A request for ascertaining reports about Tunda's arrest has been made by India through Interpol and the response is awaited," a CBI spokesman told reporters in New Delhi.    

The CBI had secured an Interpol Red Corner Notice against Tunda after he fled from the country in mid-1990s. He also carries a cash reward of Rs three lakh on his head.

The CBI wants Tunda in connection with serial bomb blasts that had taken place in several trains in the intervening night of December five and six, 1993 in Mumbai. He was chargesheeted in his absence in 1994. Tunda, who has almost 33 cases against him, is also wanted by the Delhi Police in various cases of bomb blasts and other terrorist related activities.

Nick-named Tunda for a handicap in his left arm sustained while making a bomb, Tunda's association in separatist activities predates his association with the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. He had joined Muslim Self-Defence Committee in the wake of Bhiwandi riots in Maharashtra in early 90s. Until his disappearance off intelligence radar from Bangladesh two years ago, Abdul Karim was a top field operative of LeT's India outfit.

He reported to the LeT's head of India operations Azam Cheema who in turn acts under the instructions of the organisation's overall commander of military operations Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi. Senior officials of the Research and Analysis Wing had claimed two years back that Tunda had been killed in a train accident in Bangladesh.