The Scotland Yard has arrested the alleged mastermind of the 1993 Surat terror bombing from a grocery store in Bolton,North England,about 17 years after the Interpol had begun a global hunt for him.

A London court will decide on the extradition of 49-year-old Mohammed Hanif Umerji Patel alias Tiger to India on March 25. He was traced to the grocery store in Bolton where he was working and was later arrested from a house in Halliwell on February 16.

The Surat police will soon contact the CBI to get him to the city once he is extradited.

Inspector G V Desai of the Surat Special Operations Group said: “After the CBI gets Patel’s custody post-extradition,we will apply for his custody. From Hanif we hope to find out the whereabouts of other absconders Salim,Lala,Gaznavi,Faruk Surti and Rasul Party.”

Hanif’s family members in Surat told The Indian Express today that they had disowned him as soon as he was accused in the bombing. They maintained that he has not been in touch ever since.

Hanif’s elder brother,Abdur Rehman Patel,is now staying with his family,including his aged parents Umarji Patel (80) and Hoori Patel (75).

“Before fleeing India,Hanif was running his textile business at Ved Road in Surat. We decided to sever all relations with him after his name figured in the blast case. We have not heard from him for the last 17 years. We didn’t even know that he was alive. I don’t consider him my brother,” Patel said.

The bombings in Surat had killed an eight-year-old schoolgirl and left 12 others injured. Later,Hanif and 19 others were declared wanted by the Surat police. The same year,all the accused also figured in the blast at the Surat railway station in which one person was killed and 37 others injured.

The police arrested Mustak Patel of Varachha on March 5,1995. Later,on the basis of his statements,former minister and chairman of the Fisheries Board of Gujarat,Mohammed Surti,and 13 others were arrested. Mustak,Surti and six others were sentenced to 20 years imprisonment,while the rest were given 10-year jail terms.

Sources said that Hanif was arrested in an arms case with Mustak earlier,but he did not confess to his involvement in the blast case. He managed to get bail from the court and escaped to the UK.

(With PTI inputs from London)