Indian police nab suspected militants with explosives

NEW DELHI: Indian police said on Sunday they had arrested two militants armed with explosives at a railway station in New Delhi.   

The two were initially detained on suspicion that they were members of the pro-Pakistan militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, blamed for many attacks in India, including train bombings in the financial capital Mumbai in July, senior Delhi police official Karnal Singh said.   

"We received a tip-off that the two men would be coming by train from Jammu (the winter capital of Indian Kashmir)," Singh said.   

"We detained them and during interrogation they admitted to being members of the Lashkar, and their plan was to plant two explosive devices" in a busy market near the railway station, Singh said.   

A bomb disposal squad was inspecting luggage recovered from the duo which contained the bombs, the officer added.   

The arrests came amid tight security in the Indian capital ahead of New Year festivities.   

The Lashkar-e-Taiba, one of several groups battling Indian rule in Kashmir, was blamed for the October 29, 2005 triple bomb attacks in New Delhi, just ahead of the main Hindu festival of Diwali.

Those attacks killed 66 and injured at least 200 others.   

The group was blamed for the July 11 commuter train attacks in Mumbai this year that killed 186 people and injured some 800.   

New Delhi has been under a security blanket for the past week ahead of New Year festivities and in the run-up to the country's 58th Republic Day celebrations on January 26.