NIA arrests 2 LeT terrorists in Darbhanga blast case

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday arrested two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists in connection with the Darbhanga railway station blast that took place earlier this month in Bihar.

According to an official release, NIA arrested two key accused -- Imran Malik and Mohd Nasir Khan -- from Hyderabad after visiting the scene of the crime and noting the key inputs from the probe.

The case was originally registered as FIR June June 17 at Railway Police Station Darbhanga District Muzaffarpur Rail relating to an explosion in a parcel on Platform 1 of Darbhanga Railway station on June 17.

The said parcel was booked at Secunderabad and had arrived in Train, Secunderabad- Darbhanga Express. NIA had re-registered the case and taken up the investigation.

After the visit to the scene of the crime and the development of key inputs by the investigation team of NIA, the aforementioned accused persons were arrested from Hyderabad on June 30.

"Preliminary investigation and examination of the accused persons have revealed a trans-national conspiracy hatched by top operatives of proscribed terrorist organisation Laskar-e-Taiba ( LeT) to execute terror acts across India and cause large scale damage to life and property," the NIA said.

"Acting under the directions of Pakistan-based handlers of LeT, arrested accused Mohd Nasir Khan and his brother Imran Malik fabricated an incendiary IED and packed it in a parcel of cloth and booked the same in a long-distance train from Secunderabad to Darbhanga. This was aimed at causing explosion and fire in a running passenger train resulting in huge loss of lives and property," it said.

The investigation agency said the arrested accused, Mohd Nasir Khan, had visited Pakistan in 2012 and had received training from handlers of LeT in the fabrication of IED from locally available chemicals.

He along with his brother Imran was in touch with Pakistan-based handlers of LeT over encrypted communication platforms, it said.

The arrested accused are being produced before the Special NIA Court, Patna after obtaining transit from the competent court. Detailed examination of the accused and investigation continues to unearth the larger conspiracy, the NIA informed.

( With inputs from ANI )