Indore (PTI): One suspected SIMI activist was detained here as a Gujarat police team reached Madhya Pradesh on Monday to probe the Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts even as combing operations continued in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

Top police sources said the SIMI activist was detained last night following a tip-off by Gujarat police.

Nine persons were arrested on August 16 for their alleged involvement in July 26 Ahmedabad blasts and they reportedly disclosed that explosives used were sent from Madhya Pradesh. Police is also suspecting them of stealing vehicles used in the operation.

Gujarat police says Safdar Nagori, the SIMI Madhya Pradesh unit chief who was arrested along with 12 other on March 27 from Indore, trained the activists in Halol jungle. He is now lodged in a Reva jail.

About 25 to 30 SIMI activists from Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh had participated in the terror training camp. A police team visited the dargah located at the foothills of Pavagadh near Halol yesterday and met Sayed Nizamuddin, president of the dargah managing committee.

A few more suspects, including a person named Ikrar, are being traced. The two-member police team from Gujarat visited Ujjain to explore details of SIMI's network and operation strategies.

It may also go to Malwa and Nimad areas which are considered as the strongholds of the banned outfit.

Two persons were arrested here with explosive material with police suspecting it to be ammonium nitrate used in making bombs. The Railway Police recovered a sack full of chemical on Sunday night.

Later, police picked up owner of the factory from where the chemical was purchased and seized 18 more sacks.

In Ahmedabad, crime branch officials said two key members of SIMI who were part of the core group which executed the blasts are still at large. Police is also trying to track 50 small-time operatives who were involved in executing the blasts in Ahmedabad and planting live bombs in Surat.

"Our job is not over yet," said crime branch sources. "We are in search of two other main culprits who were involved in the blasts. They are Taufiq Bilal, a Mumbai-based techie, and Qayamuddin, a Vadodara resident."

Bilal, described by Joint Commissioner of Police Ashish Bhatia as another mastermind in the serial blasts case, is believed to have assembled the bombs four day before the blasts in Ahmedabad on July 26, police said adding that he had left the state before explosions.

Police also suspect his involvement in hacking the computer of US resident Ken Haywood from whose Internet Protocol (IP) address the threatening e-mails, claiming responsibility of the blasts by Indian Mujahideen, were sent to television channels.

Qayamuddin managed the logistics and was also involved in procurement of material used in the explosives, police said. "He had made a base in Ahmedabad and stayed there for about two months."

Qayamuddin is considered very close to SIMI group chief Safdar Nagori. Police believes that Qayamuddin and Abu Bashir guided those who planted the explosives in Ahmedabad.

"We have kept a watch at several places to track these two people," crime branch officials said.

In Bharuch, three persons were arrested today for renting a house to SIMI activist Sajid Mansuri, another accused of playing a key role in the Ahmedabad blasts.

Police interrogated them about Mansuri's activities during his stay in the city. The house belonged to a London-based NRI, police said.

Mansuri had organised a meeting of SIMI members at Surat in 2001, which was raided by police and 123 people were arrested.

In Kota, six persons picked up by police in connection with the Jaipur serial blasts on May 13 were sent to the state capital for further interrogation. Inspector General of Police Utkal Ranjan Sahu said four of them were detained in Kota district and three in Baran district.

A special investigation team had detained Dr Issac Quereshi, his son Tofiq and Nazaqut Kureshi from Wakf colony here on Saturday. Another person, Allauddin, was let off after preliminary interrogation.

In Baran district, police had picked up Riaz and Vasim Kabariwalas, both residents of Talabpara, and Abid Bhai Kapdewala of Sheopurian Masjid area. All of them were scrap dealers, Sahu said.

Forensic experts say the blasts in Jaipur and Ahmedabad had similarities, including the manner in which the bombs were assembled and planted.

In Mumbai, Maharashtra police continued probing possible links of three persons arrested recently with SIMI. Nadeem Shaikh and Ayaaz Khan were arrested by the anti-terrorism squad for carrying fake currency on August 16.

Joint Commissioner of Police Hemant Karkare said police will try to find out if they had any links with the Ahmedabad serial blasts.

Mumbai police (crime branch) is also investigating the antecedents of a person named Bilal Kazi, who was arrested near Surat on August 7 in an extortion case.