New Delhi: In a major success, India has secured the deportation of main accused in the Ghatkopar bomb blast Imran Rehman Khan from Dubai, official sources said.

The accused, who had fled to the port city in October 2002 after hatching the conspiracy with some others, was being brought to the metropolis by a team of Mumbai police on January 9 night, the sources said.

His role came to the fore after police stumbled on the cell phone details of one of the four accused persons arrested in this case where he had allegedly made several calls from the port city directing them to carry out the blast in a crowded place.

The police with the help of intelligence agencies secured Khan's details after which the Ministry of External Affairs raised the matter with the authorities of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Rehman's passport "T-984468" issued in Tamil Nadu had helped in nabbing him from the port city.

On December 2, the explosion that ripped through a BEST bus outside crowded Ghatkopar railway station left two persons dead, besides injuring 31. Property worth Rs 10 lakh was destroyed in the incident.

Mumbai police had arrested four persons – Mohammed Abdul Mateen Abdul Baseed, Sayeed Khwaja Yunus Sayeed Khwaja Ayub, Shaikh Mohammed Muzamil Zamil Ahmed and Zaheer Ahmed Bashir Ahmed Shaikh. However, Khwaja Ayub had managed to escape on January 7 when the vehicle carrying him to Aurugabad met with an accident.

The Mumbai police had dug out the entire details of Rehman, including those relating to his passport, to seek his deportation from Dubai.

PTI