Friday, July 14 2006 10:39 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: "Anti-Terrorists Squad and Mumbai Crime Branch have formed a number of teams to focus on each aspect of the serial suburban train blasts probe and to question Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) activists detained since yesterday," sources said.

"ATS and Mumbai crime branch together have formed nearly a dozen teams headed by an inspector level officer, for various jobs on hand like interrogation of SIMI cadre, verification of data arriving from various agencies etc," sources said.

Some teams have been also kept on standby to be despatched outside Mumbai in case of some important clues are received in the blasts probe, they said.

Meanwhile, sources said that the state Home department was seriously considering appointing Inspector General of Police (training) Rakesh Maria to head the blasts probe along with the ATS.

"Maria, who was posted as Deputy Police Commissioner in the Mumbai crime branch in the 1990s and had probed the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts, is likely to be posted in wake of his experience in investigating blasts cases and his knowledge of the underworld and its nexus with terrorist elements," sources said.