Ranchi:
Investigations into the Patna blasts targeting Narendra Modi's rally on Sunday have led to the arrest of a suspect believed to have been involved in the 2011 blast at the Delhi High Court, in which 11 people were killed and over 80 injured.
Uzair Ahmed was arrested on Wednesday from Ranchi in Jharkhand, by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). He is allegedly linked to Tehseen Akhtar, a top operative of the terror outfit Indian Mujahideen, who allegedly mentored the Patna bombers.
The police say Ahmed was mainly involved in planning the logistics and raising funds. His name reportedly cropped up during the interrogation of the three men earlier arrested for the blasts that killed six people and injured 83 before Mr Modi's 'Hunkar rally' in Patna four days ago.
Both Ahmed and Tehseen Akhtar are allegedly close to Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal, who was arrested in August near the Nepal border.
The Bihar police have said six men planted 18 bombs all over Patna before Mr Modi's rally, and all belong to the Indian Mujahideen. The arrested men have allegedly told investigators that the attacks were aimed at causing chaos and a possible stampede that would lead to many deaths.
The police said the six main accused planted three bombs each at and near the Modi rally venue, Gandhi Maidan. Seven bombs exploded on Sunday, while the rest have been defused or detonated by bomb squads.
The biggest leads, claimed the investigators, came from the two men arrested from the Patna railway station after the first blast. They were allegedly trying to assemble a bomb inside the toilet at the station when they were startled by a loud ring from a Chinese made mobile phone in the next stall.
The police say one of them, Imtiaz Ansari, caught trying to escape with a bag of explosives, is the mastermind.