India police arrest 'militants'

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Police in India's Uttar Pradesh state say they have arrested three suspected members of a banned Pakistan-based militant group.

The men belonged to the Jaish-e-Mohammed group and were planning to kidnap a "very important political person", the police said.

Local reports suggested the target could have been Rahul Gandhi, son of Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi.

Police said the arrested men were all Pakistanis.

The chief of Uttar Pradesh police Vikram Singh said the three men were arrested on the outskirts of the state capital, Lucknow.

He said the men were travelling from Delhi in a car.

Mr Singh said militants planned to kidnap a "very important person" in exchange for 42 militants lodged in various Indian prisons.

Ammunition, rifles, grenades and explosives were seized from the men, he said.