NEW DELHI, March 27: India on Thursday said it had arrested 13 of the most wanted leaders of a banned Islamic outfit, including a man linked to the 2006 blasts on trains that killed 185 commuters in Mumbai.

Police in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh said those arrested belonged to the Students’ Islamic Movement of India (Simi) and described the crackdown as a “huge blow” to the organisation, outlawed in September 2001.

New Delhi believes the Simi offers tactical support to militant groups such as Lashkar-i-Taiba and Jaish-i-Mohammed, which are fighting Indian troops in Kashmir.

Local police backed by federal troops and law enforcing officers from other states raided Simi hideouts in Madhya Pradesh and recovered a cache of weapons, the Press Trust news agency quoted a police spokesman as saying.

Among those held was top Simi leader Shibly Peedicaal Abdul, wanted for the July 11, 2006 serial blasts in Mumbai which killed 185 commuters and left 800 injured, the officer said.

Former Simi chief Safdar Nagori and his brother Kamruddin Nagori were among those arrested, he added.—AFP