Guwahati, November 1
Three Maruti 800 cars fitted with plastic explosives and ammonium nitrate and programmable time devices (PTDs) were used to trigger serial blasts in Guwahati on Thursday and a Bajaj Pulser motorcycle was used in Bongaigoan blast, the police confirmed today.
Meanwhile, a statewide 12-hour bandh called by the BJP and the VHP against the serial blasts paralysed normal life all over the state today.
The CID is trying to prepare the sketch of two of the suspects on the basis of information provided by a city-based lawyer Prodip Konwar. IGP Bhaskarjyoti Mahanta said so far two persons, including one Md Nazir Ahmed whose mobile was used to send the SMS claiming responsibility for the blasts by Islamic Security Force (Indian Mujahideen), were arrested in connection with the blasts. “The SMS could be a diversionary tactic or it could be a lead. We are not ignoring it and keeping all our options open,” he said.
A special investigation team (SIT) of the Assam police led by IGP Chandranathan is spearheading the blasts investigation. One of the Maruti cars used in the Guwahati city blasts was badly damaged with the last two digits of the chassis number were missing and the police has contacted the manufacturers for help to retrieve it.
The police has traced the owner of another Maruti Car (AS 01 M 0327) used in one of the blasts in Guwahati city to Nagaon in Central Assam. He has been identified as one Tikendra Saikia who has been arrested. The police official said Saikia during the investigation claimed that he had already sold the car to a used car dealer in Guwahati and further investigation was on.
The car used in the Ganeshguri blast in Guwahati city has been traced to Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh and the police in the neighbouring town has been approached for help in the investigations. A police source in Itanagar said the car used in the Ganeshguri blast was sold by a distributor at Naharlagoon in the Arunachal capital to a bank official in New Delhi in 1996. The bank official paid in cheque for the white car.
Owner of a pulsar motorbike used in the Bongaigaon blast has been traced to Kahilipara area of Guwahati and a person named Bishwa Borgohain has been arrested, the IGP said. The arrested person told the police that the motorcycle was stolen on October 22 last and an FIR was lodged with the Dispur police station in the city.
The IGP said the investigating team of the Forensic Science Laboratory also recovered one switch of programmable time device used in the blast that rocked Ganeshguri area in the city. Such device was used earlier to trigger blasts in Assam.
