Four men arrested in church blasts

The authorities in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh say they have arrested four men in connection with a recent series of bomb explosions in religious buildings across India, most of them churches.

The Chief Minister, Chandrababu Naidu, said the attack had been planned by a leader of a Muslim sect based in Pakistan to which the four detained men also belonged.

The Chief Minister said the sect leader, Syed Ziaullah Siddiqui, had organised the bombings in order to create communal tensions, even taking several Indian sect members to Pakistan for military training.

Police are still searching for fifteen other people. Indian leaders of the Muslim sect have denied any involvement in the bombings.

Christian groups have blamed the attacks, which first began two years ago, on Hindu extremists.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service