Top Indian militant leader arrested

Yasin Bhatkal, the founder of Indian Mujahideen, has been arrested by Indian agencies from the India-Nepal border on Wednesday night after being on the run for over five years.

Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Thursday confirmed his arrest by the intelligence agencies near India-Nepal border in Bihar.

Yasin Bhatkal is at present in the custody of Bihar Police and is being interrogated, Shinde told reporters.

The Union home minister refused to disclose the identity of agencies involved in the arrest.

According to sources, IB and other Indian agencies took YasinBhatkal in custody at Sonauli border of Nepal near Gorakhpur.

30-year-old Yasin Bhatkal, one of India's most-wanted terrorists, was picked up by security agencies along with another IM leader Akhtar, official sources said.

Sources say special teams had been camping in Darbhanga in Bihar for some time for his arrest as RAW and IB played a crucial role in tracing his whereabouts.

A special cell of Delhi Police was also near the Bihar-Nepal border since last one week anticipating the arrest.

According to reports, the NSA has met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and briefed him about the arrest of Bhatkal.

Yasin Bhatkal is accused of masterminding several terror strikes including Delhi, Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad blasts.

His real name is Ahmad ZararSiddiBappa. He is also known by the alias Shahrukh.

Yasin Bhatkal's arrest comes close on the heels of arrest of another top terrorist Abdul Karim Tunda.