We have proof of Pak involvement: Maharashtra

Asserting that Pakistan-based terrorists were involved in the July 11 bomb blasts in Mumbai, the Maharashtra government on Friday said police would soon "submit" evidence about this. "Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has spoken about proving the involvement of Pakistan-based terrorists in the blast. Let me inform the House that our police will soon submit proof of the involvement of Pakistan-based terrorist organisations in the blasts," Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil told the state assembly.

In a televised address to the nation, Musharraf had on Thursday night asked the Indian government to provide proof about organisations involved in the attacks so that Pakistan could fully cooperate in the investigation into the blasts.

Patil, who holds the home portfolio, made his statement after Deputy Speaker Pramod Shende sought more details from him about the arrest of three men suspected of involvement in the July 11 blasts on commuter trains that killed 200 people.

Earlier in the day, Patil had made a statement in the House about the arrest of the three suspects, two of whom were nabbed in Bihar near the border with Nepal. He had identified the arrested men as Kamal Ahmed Mohammad Vakil Ansari (32), Khalid R Shaikh (24) and Mumtaz Maqbul Ahmed (34), adding that the probe into the blasts is "progressing at a rapid pace".

Preliminary investigations have indicated the involvement of terror groups from Nepal and Bangladesh in the train blasts in Mumbai and this points at the "direct or indirect" involvement of Pakistan, a top police official said in Mumbai on Friday.

K P Raghuvanshi, the chief of Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorist Squad, said, "Investigations so far reveal the involvement of terror groups from Nepal and Bangladesh and (this) in turn, points at the direct or indirect involvement of Pakistan." He told reporters there was "definite evidence" that the blasts were part of a larger conspiracy involving more players but refused to divulge details.