FIR filed against man held for Mumbai blasts

An FIR was on Monday filed against two suspected Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami members on charges of violating the Foreigners Act.

The FIR was lodged against Mohammad Riyazul Sarkar alias Akash Khan who was arrested on Saturday, besides Mohamma Mahtab Alam, who was in the custody of the Pauakhali police station in the district under the Foreigners Act, Superintendent of Police R K Mishra said.

"Sarkar claims to be an Indian and had stayed in Bengaluru. We verified other addresses he gave us and found the details wrong. Sarkar is not an Indian," he said.

"We have seized diaries, several SIM cards, details of bank accounts and several contact numbers. These are being probed," he said.

Asked whether the involvement of the two in the Mumbai blasts has been established, he replied, "We are yet to establish this."

On whether the two were associated with the HuJI, Mishra said, "Though we have not received a clue, I can't rule out anything."

The two would be produced in a local and taken on police remand, he said.

Mohammad Reyazul Sarkar, who is fluent in Kannada, Gujarati and Bengali, was arrested from a house in Maheshpura village in the district.

The house owner Mahtab Alam, with whom Sarkar was staying for seven days, was also arrested.

Sarkar was arrested from Bihar's Kishenganj district on Sunday and the police had seized from him a diary with Marathi notings. He was missing from the area when the Mumbai terror attack took place.