As the probe into the Samjhauta Express blasts widened, six persons were arrested in Bikaner and a Pakistani national in Bulandshahr. Among them were Saira Taj Mohammad and Salman Ahmed, who is said to resemble one of the suspects in the two sketches put out by the Haryana police.

Military Intelligence, Rajasthan Police and Uttar Pradesh Police raided the house of Saira Taj Mohammad last night and they were formally arrested today along with four others, including railway employees.

Police claimed Saira had been running a brothel in Rampura Basti in the Nava Shehar area of Bikaner. Her house was raided in August 2004 and four girls from Mumbai were found there.

Saira and Salman are not related, but neighbours said she used to tell them that Salman, who was a regular visitor to her house for six years, was from Ahmedabad and her “moohbola bhai.” Her husband Taj Mohammad, a railway employee, has been missing for the last five days.

The team that raided the house has recovered bottles filled with diesel and a white fluid. “One thing can be said for sure is that many railway employees are involved in smuggling of diesel and Saira’s husband Taj is one of the suspects,” said Bikaner Dy SP Sharad Kaviraj. “However, it is too early to say if this is the same diesel and fluid used in the blasts. We are looking for Taj.”

Sources said Salman was traced on intelligence inputs because he resembled one of the suspects. The sources pointed out that the two men who jumped off the train before Diwana railway station had said they wanted to go to Ahmedabad, the city which was also Saman’s home.

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