NEW DELHI, Oct 25: India’s federal police, the CBI, was investigating two former army officers on Saturday for their alleged links with rightwing Hindu extremists named in recent attacks, including a bomb blast near a mosque in Malegaon in Maharashtra that killed five worshippers during Ramazan.The unidentified army officers were picked up from Pune a day after three other suspects, including a fire-breathing woman ascetic or Sadhvi, were arrested for involvement in the attack in communally sensitive Malegaon. The attack was initially blamed on Muslim extremists.

Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Shamlal Sahu and Shivnarayan Singh thus arrested earlier have been linked to extremist groups in Madhya Pradesh, a state ruled by the rightwing BJP.

The ex-army officials are believed to have given training to people involved in carrying out the blasts. Reports also said the ex-army men had provided RDX explosives to the Hindu extremists, which was found to have been used in Malegaon.

A motorcycle used in that blast on September 29 belonged to the Sadhvi. Besides having links with the BJP’s student wing ABVP, she is associated with the Indore-based radical Hindu Jagran Manch, accused also of involvement in Modasa attack in Gujarat in which one person was killed.

The arrest of the former army officers in extremist attacks may be a new phenomenon, but many of the ex-officers have been active members of rightwing groups, including the main opposition BJP.