Police arrest 6 over Varanasi bombings

Police suspect the six belonged to a Bangladesh-based Islamic militant outfit and are holding them on accusations of murder and conspiracy, said S.K. Agarwal, home secretary of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

"In a late-night swoop (Tuesday), police arrested six men who are part of a module that took part in the blasts," he told AFP in the state capital Lucknow.

Police arrested the six in twin raids in Lucknow and on the outskirts, Agarwal said, adding they also found the explosive material RDX, grenades and an assault rifle.

The explosions went off almost simultaneously March 7 at an ancient temple packed with devotees and a crowded railway station, killing 23 people and injuring 68 in Varanasi, India's most important Hindu pilgrimage city.

The arrested men were believed to be members of Harkat-ul Jehadi Islam, a Bangladesh-based offshoot of Jaish-e-Mohammed which is fighting New Delhi's rule in insurgency-racked Indian Kashmir, Agarwal said.