The Maharashtra anti-terrorism police are questioning a Karnataka resident they say may have been involved in February's bombing of a café in Pune, and in jihadist networks which have executed a series of urban bombings across India bombings since 2005.

Mangalore resident Abdul Samad Bawa was held by the Maharashtra police soon after his return from the United Arab Emirates, and flown to Mumbai for questioning. Government sources said India's intelligence services had worked closely with their counterparts in the UAE to secure Mr. Samad's return to India.

Police have been seeking Samad's brother, Mohammad Zarar Siddi Bawa, on suspicion that he may have played a central role in executing the German Bakery bombing. Investigation sources say informants identified an individual filmed by the café's closed-circuit camera as Bawa. Bawa, also known as ‘Yasin Bhatkal', has been named as fugitive by authorities involved in the prosecution of members of a jihadist network called the Indian Mujahideen (IM), which carried out multiple urban bombings nationwide.