Indian Police Arrest Three For Blast

Earlier, NDTV news channel said a Hindu holy woman was among the three arrested.

Police in the western Indian state of Maharashtra have arrested three people in connection with a blast in Malegaon town last month, a spokesman for the Anti-Terrorism Squad said on Friday.

"Three people were arrested and produced in the Nashik court. They will be kept in custody till Nov. 3," he said.

The three arrested were Pragya Singh Thakur, Shivnarain Singh and Shyam Sahu, he said, without giving more details.

On Thursday, members of Indian left parties demanded a ban on the Hindu groups Bajrang Dal and Hindu Jagran Manch, following a newspaper report that Jagran Manch was involved in two blasts in western India last month.

The Indian Express newspaper on Thursday, quoting sources in the police, said the two bombings, one in Malegaon and one in Modasa in Gujarat state were carried out by Jagaran Manch.

Five people were killed in the blasts that hit the two Muslim-dominated towns within minutes of each other on Sept. 29.

Muslim leaders have accused authorities of conducting a witch hunt and reinforcing stereotypes about their community after dozens of Muslims were detained following a string of bomb attacks across the country this year.

In August, two suspected Hindu militant fundamentalists died while trying to build a bomb in the northern town of Kanpur.