Two alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives residing in Hyderabad were arrested on Wednesday in connection with the blast at the Darbhanga railway station in Bihar earlier this month, a spokesperson of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said. This development came a week after NIA registered a case with regard to the Darbhanga incident. According to a report in the Times of India, searches were carried out at a house rented by the accused, before their arrest. The accused have been identified as Imran Malik alias Imran Khan and his brother Mohammad Nasir Khan. The NIA spokesperson said that they were part of a conspiracy hatched by top operatives of the proscribed terrorist organisation LeT, to execute terror acts across India.

Originally hailing from Kairana town in Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh, the accused were identified and traced after the NIA took over the investigation into the explosion of a parcel on platform number one of Darbhanga railway station on June 17. The investigation revealed that the parcel was booked at Secunderabad and had arrived at the site on the Secunderabad-Darbhanga Express.

“After the visit to the scene of crime and development of key inputs by the investigation team of NIA, preliminary investigation and examination of the accused persons has revealed a trans-national conspiracy hatched by top operatives of LeT to execute terror acts across India and cause large scale damage to life and property,” the NIA spokesperson said.

Acting under the directions of Pakistan-based handlers of LeT, the arrested accused fabricated an incendiary improvised explosive device (IED) and packed it in a parcel of cloth and put it in the train, he said. He added this was aimed at causing an explosion and fire in a running passenger train resulting in huge loss of lives and property.

According to the NIA, Nasir Khan had visited Pakistan in the year 2012 and had received training from handlers of LeT in fabrication of IED from locally available chemicals. A spokesperson of NIA said that Nasir Khan and his brother Imran were in touch with Pakistan-based handlers of LeT over encrypted communication platforms. He said the arrested accused will be produced before a special NIA court in Patna. "Detailed examination of the accused and investigation continues to unearth the larger conspiracy,'' the NIA spokesperson said.

(With PTI inputs)