Author: Utpal Parashar
Publication: Hindustan Times
Date: July 26, 2011
URL: http://www.hindustantimes.com/Nepal-police-arrest-man-over-links-to-Mumbai-blasts/H1-Article1-725765.aspx
A Nepali man has been arrested by the Kathmandu
police for his alleged involvement in the July 13 Mumbai blasts, a local daily
claimed on Tuesday. A report in Gorkhapatra, a government-run daily, stated
that Mohammad Zahir who hails from Sarlahi district in the Terai region bordering
India was arrested by an anti-terrorism cell.
Tough the police have termed the report as
baseless and denied having made any arrest in connection with the Mumbai blast,
unofficial sources say that the incident has been kept under wraps.
Based on intelligence inputs, the person believed
to be in his 40s was arrested on July 15, two days after the serial blasts
from his rented apartment in Baluwatar, a posh locality in the capital that
houses the prime minister's residence.
Quoting unidentified police officials, the
report says that Zahir was nabbed after he had talked about the Mumbai blasts
over mobile phone and sent SMSs on the incident.
Although the report mentions that Zahir has
been kept in police custody in Kathmandu, police officials here are giving
contradictory statements.
Kathmandu police chief Kedar Rijal told HT
that no person called Mohammad Zahir has been arrested, but Nepal Police spokesperson
Navaraj Dhakal admitted that such an arrest has been made.
"The police have arrested a person by
that name, but it was not in connection with the Mumbai blasts. He was placed
under arrest for creating public nuisance," Dhakal told HT.
Due to absence of an extradition treaty between
both nations, criminals wanted in India are secretly handed over by Nepal
to Indian authorities who in turn show that the arrest was made near the Indo-Nepal
border.
In the past several militants operating in
north-east were nabbed in Nepal and handed over to Indian officials. The same
modus operandi may be used in this case if any Mumbai blast suspect has been
arrested.
India has been insisting on Nepal signing
a new extradition treaty since 2005, but political instability in the Himalayan
nation has delayed its signing.
