Patna: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday was handed over a second case in connection with the Patna serial blasts but there is no doubt about the involvement of Indian Mujahideen (IM) in it, Bihar Director General of Police said.
Two cases were registered in Bihar on the October 27 serial blasts - one at GRP Patna and another at Gandhi Maidan. While the first was handed over to the central agency two days ago, the second was given to it on Wednesday.
"There is no doubt on it," DGP Abhayanand told reporters when asked whether the involvement of IM in the Patna and Bodh Gaya blasts were confirmed.
The Bihar police chief said Ainus Ansari alias Tarique, the plotter who was caught fleeing from Patna Junction railway station after the first blast and died later was not a human bomb.
"The circumstantial evidence leading to his death suggests that he was not a human bomb but erred while setting the timer while strapping two bombs in his waist," he said.
Referring to the link between Patna and Bodh Gaya blasts in July, Abhyanand said lotus brand watches used in both places have been recovered from a lodge at Ormanjhi in the outskirts of Ranchi.
"Though they (watches) are from separate batches but of similar make," he said adding about 25-30 gelatin sticks and 14 detonators were also seized from Mohammad Mojbullah Ansari during raids at his Ormanjhi lodge.
The recovered gelatin sticks were in the brand name of `Raj power-90`. "We are investigating the company which manufactured them and how the gelatin sticks reached the blast sites," he said.
Asked why investigations into the blasts at Gandhi Maidan and one at Bodh Gaya were given to NIA despite his claims of state police`s efficiency, Abhyanand said, "Prudence demanded that investigation into the two incidents be given to a specialised agency like NIA and Bihar government did it."
"These are new types of crime in Bihar which we have never investigated. Hence there is no data base about terror network with us," he said.
The Bihar DGP at the very outset of his press meet at the state police headquarters said he would share some information about the investigation into the two terror incidents but would not speak about others so that the probe process was not disturbed.
He said three persons were arrested in Bihar in connection with the Patna blasts. These included Imtiaz Ansari, Ainus Ansari alias Tarique and Tabish Nyaz alias Arshad from Motihari. While one person named Ainul died two others are in custody and being interrogated to elicit more information, he said.
He said within one hour of intensive interrogation of the suspect Ainus Ansari alias Tarique, caught while fleeing from the railway station toilet, the police came to know about the bombs at different places in Gandhi Maidan while the BJP rally was in progress.
"These were not hidden under the earth but were placed in plastic bags on the surface. But, since the rally was in progress, locating the bombs in the presence of such a large crowd took time," he said.
The plotters had melted into the crowd to enter Gandhi Maidan using five entry gates in addition to one meant exclusively for VIPs between 9 am to 10:30 am on October 27.
He said 31 CDs and VCDs having details of different massacres have been recovered from the raids in Ranchi. These were used to `brainwash` youth to join the terrorists.
On being asked why Advance Security Liaison (ASL) of Central and state forces was not given to Modi, the Bihar Police chief said, "Every protected personality cannot be provided ASL."
Abhyanand said as new kind of terror activity in which IEDs have been used for the first time, the government has now taken steps to impart basic knowledge about the explosives and dos and don`ts in such circumstances not only in urban areas but also in villages, specially during festivals.
Asked when Bihar would have an anti-terrorism squad, Abhyanand said the Centre has sanctioned it and the process of recruiting trained manpower is on.
He refused to accept that serial blasts were a failure on the part of the state police and said it was due to professional handling of the situation after the first blast that the terror plot hatched by Indian Mujahideen here, in Ranchi as well as at Bodh Gaya could be unearthed.
Due to efficient handling of the situation in the initial hours after the first blast, leads got on the basis of five out of six mobile numbers written on a piece of paper recovered from a fleeing suspect and information gathered during his interrogation were pursued and the terror plot both at Gandhi Maidan here and at Bodh Gaya could be solved, he added.
