The “third” man from Bihar under the police scanner in connection with the Mumbai blasts sits in the lock-up of Gaya’s Rampur police station. A madarsa teacher and a shopkeeper in Mysore, 35-year-old Mohammad Akram’s face has landed him behind bars since police said it resembles one of the two initial sketches released by the Mumbai police’s Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS).

Akram, a resident of Dangra village in Mohanpur block of Gaya district, was picked up by the police yesterday after being tipped off by local residents.

“On Wednesday, the Mohanpur police station in-charge came to our village and stared at me for some time,” Akram told The Indian Express from behind bars. “The next day, he came again, searched my house and then asked me to accompany him to the police station. When I asked him what my fault was, he said the SP wants to meet me since my face matched that of a suspect in the Mumbai blasts. I was shocked but had no choice.”

Gaya SP A K Jain said that so far Akram had only been detained, and not arrested. “His face resembled one of the two sketches and so he was picked up. On interrogation, more facts have come out but there’s nothing conclusive as yet,” the SP said. But he added that Akram’s “conduct” and “activities” were “suspect” and he had been visiting Mumbai “on and off.”

Akram claims his Mumbai connection is limited to the fact that he had visited the city twice—the last time was more than two years ago, just as a tourist.

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