MASS arrests of Indian militants, triggered by American security service involvement, has led to hope of new information in the hunt for student hostage Paul Wells.

A total of 21 known terrorists and militants, some from the remote village where Paul was said to have been killed, were captured by government forces across the province of Jammu and Kashmir.

A further eight, including rebels and soldiers, were killed in an upsurge of activity which began on Tuesday.

FBI officers representing Great Britain were said to have been given the names of rebels who might hold clues about the hostages by two men captured in a gun battle with Indian soldiers.

Today Paul's mother Dianne, of Bracken Close, Feniscowles, Blackburn, held out hope that this latest development could provide vital information. She said: "The Foreign Office has not said anything to us so far but it can take some time for information to filter through.

"We don't hear about everything which happens straight away.

"If anyone has been arrested they would be interviewed by the Indians before being handed over to us."

An Indian defence ministry spokesman said six militants had been seized.

Four were from Magam, the village where Paul and three other Westerners were said to have been killed and which his father Bob visited on his first trip to the Indian sub-continent last year.

Much of the activity has centred on the Doda district of the troubled province, where one man was abducted and shot dead by militants on Tuesday evening.

Reports of the action were carried in yesterday's edition of The Times Of India.

The newspaper said 21 militants had been arrested as they attempted to enter Kashmir from Pakistan.

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