Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Hours after a powerful bomb blast struck Delhi High Court killing 11 people, Delhi Police has released sketches of two suspects, believed to have planted the bomb.
"We have released sketches of two suspects based on the descriptions given by eyewitnesses," a senior police official said.
The sketches of the duo were prepared based on the descriptions obtained from eye witnesses. One of the suspects is believed to be in his 50s and the other in his mid-20s. The younger of the two suspects could be a couple inches shorter than 6 feet with a middle parting of his hair. The other man was described as stout and having a light beard and shallow complexion.
Eyewitnesses claim that a man clad in a white shirt was seen with a briefcase, standing in the queue in front of the reception area, where visitors, mostly litigants were waiting to get passes to enter the High Court premises, just before the explosion took place.
Police is also investigating whether the person who planted the bomb was among the injured.
Investigators are yet to ascertain whether there was a timer in the device. "It may be possible that the bomb planter could not escape from the spot before the explosion took place. If there was a timer, he would have had ample time. There is also a possibility that the suspect could not manage to escape from the scene," a senior police official said.
The National Investigating Agency (NIA) has taken over the investigation and is probing all angles.
A powerful bomb believed to be placed in the suitcase had gone off outside the Delhi High Court at 10.17 am. Besides 11 people who were killed, another 76 were injured.
Home Minister P Chidambaram confirmed in Parliament that the blast was a handiwork of terrorists.
The module behind the attack is yet to be identified.
The government handed over the probe into the blast to the National Investigative Agency (NIA).
First Published: Wednesday, September 07, 2011, 16:41