Thursday, July 28 2005 20:37 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Jammu: Security forces arrested four more suspected militants in connection with the attack on the Ram Janmabhoomi complex in Ayodhya from Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir, senior official sources said today (July 28, 2005).

The four were arrested on a specific tip off during raids in Mendhar tehsil of Poonch district and sent to Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC) after preliminary interrogation, they said.

Meanwhile, the two Lashkar-e-Toyba militants Farooq and Naseem, arrested earlier this month for involvement in the Ayodhya attack have been taken to Srinagar, they said.

While two suspects were arrested yesterday, two more were arrested today, taking to 10 the number of persons arrests so far from Poonch in connection with the Ayodhya attack, they said.

Those arrested were identified as Akbar Hussain, Lal Mohammad, Mohmmad Naseer and Mohmmad Rafeeq, all from Mendhar.

According to sources, they had gone underground after the arrests earlier this month of six LeT militants Asif Iqbal alias Farooq, Mohammad Naseem, Abdul Aziz, Shakeel Ahmed, Mushtaq Ahmed and Rafiq Hussain, also residents of Mendhar.

Farooq and Naseem, they said, had been taken to Srinagar to identify hideouts of militants, where they are alleged to have met Jaish-e-Mohamed commander Adnan, one of main Ayodhya conspirators, and the workshop where Farooq's Tata Sumo was fabricated to transport 5 AK rifles along with ammunition and explosives to Panipat.

Some more arrests were expected in Srinagar, they said adding the main mastermind of the attack, Kari, and Adnan alias Engineer are understood to be in hiding in Pir Panchal ranges in Shopian belt of Jammu Kashmir.