Lucknow, July 8
A major breakthrough has been made in the probe into the terrorist attack at Ayodhya with the printout of the mobile phones being carried by one of the terrorist being made available, claimed ADG (Law and Order), A Palanivel on Friday evening.
Addressing a press briefing, he said the police had got down to tracing these numbers that were of Delhi, Lucknow and even of other countries. The numbers would surely provide vital clues to establish the identity of the militants and their network.
One of the terrorists was carrying a mobile without a Sim card and battery. The militants had also taken the mobile phone of driver Rehan, inserted their own Sim card and made calls. The printout of the calls made from Rehan’s phone was also now with the police, informed Mr Palanivel.
Although the militants had destroyed the Sim card before carrying out the attack, agencies were able to crack down the dialed numbers through the international mobile equipment number (IMEN) code of Rehan’s handset. The IMEN code is a unique number that gets registered in the network that the caller is using.
Mr Palanivel said that one of the
militants was also carrying two visiting cards in his pocket. One belonged to a shop in Lucknow and another was of a shop in Delhi. The police was following this lead as well.
According to the ADG, the involvement of the driver Rehan could not be totally ruled out as he had been constantly shifting his statements. Interrogations had revealed that he had visited Saudi Arabia thrice in the recent past. His links and contacts in that country were being probed.
Another point that brings Rehan in the net of suspicion,
said Palanivel, was that it now appears that the terrorist had first hired and boarded a Tata Sumo at the Faizabad bus stand. But after Rehan appeared on the scene they decided to move into his vehicle leaving the other driver high and dry. The police is also questioning this driver, Pankaj Singh.
Meanwhile, an official of Jammu and Kashmir CID police was shown the photographs of the bodies of the five slain militants.
The police is also probing the explosives used in the attack. While it was very high powered, it was still to be confirmed if it was RDX or something else. Mr Palanivel also clarified that rocket cells and not rocket launchers were found at the site. These cells could be quite fatal and could be used with AK-47 rifles.
The police is also re-looking at the terrorist attacks in Ayodhya in recent years to get any helpful clue. There was an encounter in Faizabad in 2001 in which three terrorist were killed. Explosives were also found at Faizabad railway station and a hospital at Faizabad as well as aboard the Sabarmati Express.
Meanwhile, central security agencies have formed some crack teams and despatched them to various parts of the country, including some metropolitan cities, following leads made in the case.
