Members of the bomb disposal squad of the CID explode the five crude bombs seized from Meheruddin and Yasin at Naukaghat on the outskirts of Siliguri; (below) the duo being taken to Jalpaiguri court on Friday. Pictures by Kundan Yolmo and Biplab Basak

Siliguri, Aug. 1: A Delhi police team arrested two youths, one of them a Bangladeshi, from New Jalpaiguri late last night for their alleged involvement in low-intensity blasts in the capital earlier this year.

Five crude bombs, an improvised firearm and two live cartridges were recovered from the duo.

“They were identified as Mohammad Yasin and Mohammad Meheruddin. Yasin is a Bangladeshi national who was staying in the New Jalpaiguri area illegally,” said a senior officer of the Jalpaiguri district police.

The investigators swooped on the two while following the leads revealed by Mohammad Hakim, who was arrested from New Delhi railway station on Tuesday in connection with the blasts in the Malviya Nagar area of the capital in January, February and May.

According to an officer of the Delhi police team, who was present during last night’s raid, Hakim, too, is from Bangladesh.

The officer did not, however, say anything about the trio’s involvement in the recent serial blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad.

“Hakim told us that he used to stay at Haidarpara in Bhaktinagar, Siliguri. During his stay, he came in touch with Yasin and Meheruddin, who lived somewhere in the New Jalpaiguri area,” the officer said.

After getting this tip off, the Delhi police decided to send a team to Siliguri to catch the duo.

A senior officer of the Jalpaiguri police, however, said Yasin and Meheruddin were nothing but petty criminals.

“The duo admitted that they had taken part in several petty crimes like smuggling and burglary in Siliguri and New Jalpaiguri areas. But they never committed any big crime,” the senior officer said.

Zulfikar Hassan, the inspector-general (special) of Jalpaiguri, said: “Officials of various agencies are interrogating them, but till now, we have nothing regarding their links with terrorists.”

From New Jalpaiguri police outpost, the youths were forwarded to the Jalpaiguri court today where Delhi police appealed for a transit remand. The court however, remanded them in Jalpaiguri police custody for seven days.

The Delhi police team will interrogate the two and will be staying on for the next few days, the inspector-general said.