Allahabad/Lucknow: Clearing confusion,
UP Police Tuesday admitted that one person was killed in the
bomb attack on state minister Nand Gopal Gupta "Nandi" while
forensic experts scoured the site for evidence to help
investigators crack the case.
The condition of 36-year-old Gupta, who was flown to
Lucknow from Allahabad last night, is stable and he is showing
signs of improvement, doctors at the Sanjay Gandhi Post
Graduate Institute said.
They said Gupta, Minister for Institutional Finance,
Stamp and Judicial Tax in the Mayawati government, does not
need any surgical intervention.
"We have registered an FIR under provisions of the IPC
and the Arms Act. We have also taken cognisance of the death
of Rakesh Malaviya, whose family had alleged that he was
killed in the blast," police said. Yesterday, they had claimed
that no death had taken place in the attack outside the
minister`s Allahabad residence and only three persons were
injured.
A post-mortem showed the presence of splinters proving
Malaviya`s presence on the spot yesterday, they said.
"Till last night the body was lying unclaimed in the
hospital. When family members brought their complaint to our
notice, we investigated and confirmed that Malaviya was killed
in the blast," Inspector, Kotwali Police Station in Allahabad,
Ashok Kumar Nigam said.
The minister`s personal security officer Sanjay, who
was grievously injured in the blast, was Tuesday sent to PGI
hospital in Lucknow while the condition of injured journalist
Vijay Pratap Singh, was stated to be critical and he has been
kept on a ventilator, Director of private Jeevan Jyoti
hospital A K Bansal told reporters in Allahabad.
Inspector General of Police, Allahabad Range, Subesh
Kumar Singh, told reporters, "We have got no vital clues so
far."
Additional Director General of Police Brijlal said
that no arrests or detentions have been made. The
Anti-Terrorist Squad and Special Task Force teams were working
on the case. However, police sources said that STF had rounded
up nearly 20 people for interrogation.
Replying to questions on the investigations, the ADG
said the blast was not triggered by a timer device and there
was no similarity with any other case in the state.
To another query about possibility of Naxal hand
behind the blast, he said that the modus operandi of the
Maoists was different.
"The forensic team today gathered the samples from
the site and secured the remains of the scooty in which the
explosives are believed to have been planted and sent them to
Agra for examination. Anything concrete on the nature of the
explosives and other things would be known only after a report
is received in a day or two," he said in Lucknow.
PTI
