Investigators probing July 11’s serial blasts claim they have busted another terror module in the city with the arrest of two men, both allegedly former members of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).

Crime Branch officers suspect these men—Nafeez Ansari (29) and Shabbir Ahmed Ansari Mushirulla (34)—are now members of the Lashkar-e-Toiba or Jaish-e-Mohammad, but are not sure if they played a role in the blasts. Or whether they have links with the LeT module busted on July 20. Both travelled to Pakistan via Dubai on a tourist visa for terror training in May 2003, say sources.

Nafeez and Shabbir, arrested by the Crime Branch’s Ghatkopar unit on Saturday, have been booked under the Unlawful Acitivities (Prevention) Act and remanded in police custody till August 17. SIMI-circulated literature was allegedly found on them.

According to Crime Branch officials, Nafeez, based in Govandi, is a BSc graduate who worked as a computer operator. Shabbir is a grocery shop owner from Malegaon. Both are believed to have travelled to Pakistan together. ‘‘They landed in Karachi and were taken in a closed jeep to a terrorist training camp,’’ said a Crime Branch officer. ‘‘At the camps, their handlers — Mashar and Sufi — trained them in the use of firerams, assembly and detonation of explosive devices.’’

Nafeez and Shabbir returned to Dubai in September, from where they went to Kathmandu and then Behraich on the UP-Nepal border. Nafeez then left for Lucknow, and Shabbir went to Malegaon, the officer added. The Crime Branch hopes to arrest other members of this module soon.

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