Both NRIs had bank accounts in the Gulf and these were being used to channel funds to IM members in Mumbai, the police said. The police have frozen both accounts and issued lookout notices against the two NRIs but refused to name them.

The crime branch said the NRIs opened accounts in a nationalised bank about a decade ago, and absconding IM operative Riyaz Bhatkal kept withdrawing small amounts regularly in the city for terror operations.

The police have identified six other accounts which were allegedly used by IM operatives.

“Of the eight accounts under our scanner, two are in the name of NRIs in the Gulf. These two accounts were opened in a nationalised bank in the late ‘90s, and small amounts of money were deposited and withdrawn from them regularly by Bhatkal in the city. The amounts ranged from Rs 5,000 to Rs 50,000 at a time. A total of Rs 27 lakh was in the accounts when we froze both on October 4; we issued the lookout notices a day later,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rakesh Maria.

The Crime Branch has also seized a cheque for Rs 1 lakh in the name of Bhatkal from one of the arrested.

“Riyaz Bhatkal had been given signed blank cheques for the purpose of withdrawing money from both accounts whenever he wanted. We have seized one such cheque for Rs 1 lakh issued in Bhatkal’s name from one of the other arrested accused,” said Maria.

According to crime branch officials, they have so far tracked transactions dating back till 2006 from the two accounts, and investigations are on with regard to matching dates of withdrawals from the accounts to the dates of different blasts.