Nepal police deport Mumbai blasts accused

KATHMANDU: Nepalese police have secretly deported two key suspects in 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai after arresting them in the capital.

Salim Ghazi and Riyaj Khatri who were suspected to be involved in Mumbai blast that killed over 250 people were arrested in a residential area here on Thursday on the basis of a tip off, according to The Kathmandu Post.

Both of them were in Interpols Red Corner list of wanted and were also wanted in murder and terrorist activities in India. However, they have no records of committing any crime in Nepal, the daily quoted a senior police official as saying.

Salim Ghazi is known for his underworld link to Chhota Shakeel and Indian police suspected him of hiding in Pakistan. The two had been staying in Kathmandu for a long time in the guise of businessmen dealing in handicraft and operating a manpower agency, the daily quoted chief of Kathmandu police Upendra Kant Aryal as saying.

According to the police they were extradited to India yesterday. However the two were not wanted for in any crime in Nepal.

The serial blasts in Mumbai on March 12, 1993 left 257 people dead and injured more than 700 others.