145;Timer expert146; among five arrested

Among the recent blasts for which the Indian Mujahideen has claimed credit, it was only in Surat bombs and Bangalore where digital timers, in the form of Thailand-manufactured Motorola microchips, were used. All the nine bombs in Bangalore exploded.

The Mumbai crime branch believes that the five alleged Indian Mujahideen operatives, all natives of Azamgarh, had been assisting in assembling and executing major terror blasts across the country since 2005. Officials said Arif8217;s interrogation could help them understand the kind of timers that were used in the train serial blasts in Mumbai on July 11, 2006, which claimed 187 lives.

Experts believe that the July 11 blasts were actually triggered by digital timers, and not through quartz timers as recorded in the chargesheet. 8220;There were very crucial microchips recovered from the blast spots. The Mumbai Police recorded it as quartz timers though no pieces of the watch were ever recovered. Arif should throw light now, if he was indeed a part of that group,8221; said a bomb expert who inspected the blast sites on July 11.

8220;The concept of digital timers exists among Jammu and Kashmir militants,8221; said an expert with the NSG.

Joint Commissioner of Police Crime Branch Rakesh Maria said that the group was also behind the Varanasi blasts in 2006, Shramjeevi Express blast in 2005 as well as the Hyderabad blasts. Quarz timers were used in all these cases.