Police probing Myanmar link in Mumbai violence

With the arrest of two more persons in the August 11 violence here, police are probing the possibility of a foreign hand in it as one of the accused was found to have made calls to Myanmar before and after the incident, police said on Monday.

Two accused -- Yusuf Ahmed Hussain Khan (25) and Sayyed Salim Anwar Pasha (40) -- were nabbed on Saturday, taking the total number of arrests in the case to 63.

Five of the 63 arrested had been let off after the investigators did not find any evidence against them.

Yusuf Khan was arrested from the city after he was found to have allegedly made phone calls to Myanmar on the day of the violence, said Deputy Police Commissioner Ambadas Pote.

However, Pote did not disclose if Yusuf was at the site of violence and part of the unruly mob.

Yusuf Khan had made calls before and after the Azad Maidan attack in a bid to share the information with a person in Myanmar, said another officer, adding, "There appears to be some link in Myanmar about the violence."

Sayyed Salim was arrested from Mysore in neighbouring Karnataka as he was allegedly part of the unruly mob on the fateful day.

Two youths were killed and 52, including 44 policemen, were injured on August 11, when a rally at Azad Maidan called to protest the alleged atrocities on Muslims in Assam and Myanmar turned violent.

Protesters went on a rampage attacking the police, including some women constables, torching media and police vehicles, as well as smashing cameras of photo-journalists and damaging buses.