Journalist arrested in Mumbai bomb inquiry

Indian police have arrested a journalist they believe may know those behind a series of co-ordinated bombs on Mumbai's rail network…

Indian police have arrested a journalist they believe may know those behind a series of co-ordinated bombs on Mumbai's rail network earlier this month that killed 186 people.

The chief of the city's anti-terrorism squad said charges were expected to be read out when the journalist appears in court later today.

A senior police official said the journalist, who works for a Urdu-language daily, has been held as investigating officers suspected he knew the people behind the blast, and may have helped them.

The latest arrest takes the number of people arrested to nine in an investigation that has spread across several states, and into neighbouring Nepal.

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All the arrested, who include a doctor, a chemical engineer and a computer software professional, are Indian Muslims.

Indian security officials say the blasts were carried out by local Muslims who had links to Pakistan, with the Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba a prime suspect.

The Pakistani government and Lashkar have denied any role in the attacks, and Islamabad has offered to help India investigate the bombings.

In response, New Delhi has challenged Islamabad to arrest Lashkar's leaders as well as an underworld crime boss blamed for 1993 bombings in Mumbai.