The Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday morning arrested four persons suspected to be involved in the killing of former Gujarat home minister Haren Pandya.

The Cyberabad police helped the CBI in making the arrests at Medchal on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

Cyberabad Police Commissioner Mahender Reddy said the suspects -- Mohammed Asghar Ali, Mohammed Abdul Bari [from Nalgonda district in Andhra Pradesh], Mohammed Abdul Rauf and Syed Iftakhar [from Hyderabad] -- were arrested at around 0530 IST when they were boarding a bus for Nizamabad town.

A team, led by Loknath Behra, Deputy Inspector-General of Police, CBI, New Delhi, had reached Hyderabad four days ago and worked on clues about the involvement of the four accused in the case.

The accused came to know that the CBI team was in town and wanted to flee Hyderabad, the commissioner said.

The CBI team produced the accused in the court of judicial first class magistrate, Medchal, and obtained a transit remand for four days.

Sources said the four were then taken to Delhi by a special aircraft.

The commissioner said that Asghar Ali, the prime accused, was involved in 13 offences, including a bomb blast at a hotel in Hyderabad in January 2000.

Rauf was involved in three blasts in theatres in Hyderabad, Metpally and Nanded [Maharashtra], he added.