Unclaimed body may provide vital clues

‘‘The body is at Sion hospital, and came from either Mahim or Matunga stations (where bombs exploded on suburban trains),’’ added Raghuvanshi.

According to the ATS, two people had come to see the body in the past week, but left saying it was not the person they had lost in the blasts. No remains of clothing have been found on the body.

One of the reasons the ATS is curious about the identity of this body is the contents of an e-mail sent to a TV channel on Tuesday night from a location in Indore allegedly by an Islamic militant group named Lashkar-e-Qahar. The e-mail claimed that ‘‘16 brothers of the group’’ had taken part in the operation, and that one of them had died in the blasts.

The e-mail went on to state that the remaining 15 were celebrating their victory, and were planning their next strike, said an official in the cyber crime cell. It also warned Muslims to stay away from government buildings and historical sites.

On Saturday last, another e-mail, allegedly from the group, had been sent to the same channel, claiming responsibility for the blasts.

‘‘I do not want to attribute the blasts to any particular outfit yet,’’ said Raghuvanshi. ‘‘Investigations are at a crucial stage, and every possible lead, which we think may lead to a breakthrough, is being explored.’’

Meanwhile, the Madhya Pradesh Police have arrested a youngster from Bhopal named Sumit Tambalkar, who sent an e-mail to a local newspaper posing as a SIMI leader and claimed responsibility for the blasts.

‘‘With the help of our cyber crime cell and the Madhya Pradesh Police, the culprit has been arrested. It was just a ploy on his part to gain publicity. He does not belong to any terrorist organisation at all,’’ said Raghuvanshi.

Raghuvanshi added that the ATS was closely coordinating with state police forces across the country.

‘11 detained innocent’

Three of the 11 Muslim youths detained in Agartala have admitted to their links with SIMI, but were not associated with the recent Mumbai blasts, police said. The youths, who were apprehended from a mosque in Dhalai district of Tripura on July 13, had no link with the blasts as they had entered Maharashtra on June 23, the police said. A report sent by Dhalai district police to police headquarters said during interrogation by an Anti-Terrorist Squad of Mumbai and Tripura Police, the youths confessed they had ties with SIMI, but had snapped the link after the outfit was banned in 2001. —PTI