Agencies
Jaipur, May 14: Highly-explosive RDX was used in the serial
blasts that rocked Jaipur on Tuesday, a senior police official
said on Wednesday as tell-tale signs pointed towards the involvement
of Bangladesh- based Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami in the serial
blasts.
The explosive devices were fitted with timers and planted
on cycles, a modus operandi similar to the one used in last
year's blasts on court premises in Uttar Pradesh in which
HUJI was involved, police said.
Eight persons including a man injured in the blasts and
a rickshaw puller are being questioned, they said, noting
that seven teams of Rajasthan police and intelligence branch
have begun the probe into the blasts.
"It was a cent per cent terrorist attack on the pattern
of blasts on the court premises in UP in November last year.
RDX was used in containers tagged to cycles along with timer
devices," Additional Director General of Police (Crime) AK
Jain said.
An examination of the blast sites indicated that the bombs
were filled with ball bearings and small iron pieces to act
as splinters, sources close to the investigation said.
HUJI may have been able to form sleeper cells in Rajasthan,
they said, adding that a proper investigation into the blast
at a sufi shrine in Ajmer last year could have been a pointer.
"We have collected sufficient evidence from the places of
the blasts. They are being analysed by our technical experts,"
Superintendent of Police, Jaipur, Raghvendra Suhasa said,
noting that one unexploded bomb, found from the blast site,
has been defused.
Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta told mediapersons in
New Delhi that "our priority now apart from vigilance and
being on the alert will be to get hold of the people responsible"
for the blasts.
Sources said the blasts triggered in areas close to two
Hanuman temples in the old city could have been aimed at disturbing
communal peace.
US offers help in probe
Washington: The US on Wednesday offered its assistance
in investigations into the Jaipur serial blasts, which it
described as a "vicious act of terrorism".
A day after the explosions that killed at least 63 people,
US Ambassador to India David Mulford met Foreign Secretary
Shiv Shankar Menon to convey his country's condolence.
"We have offered our assistance in analysing and understanding
the aftermath (of blast)... We requested the Indian government
we will be able and willing to help them in any way we can,"
Mulford told reporters after his 30-minute meeting with Menon.
The envoy said the US would "certainly follow the aftermath
ourselves (too)".
Menon said the US Ambassador offered help and that he told
him that New Delhi will get back if the help is needed. Mulford
noted that Americans have a special liking for India, especially
Jaipur which they visit besides Agra. "This is a particularly
tragic moment," he said, adding that the US has condemned
those who carried out ruthless attacks on innocent civilians.
While condemning the blasts, Mulford has described it as a
"vicious act of terrorism".
Agencies working on leads: CM
Jaipur, May 14:
Certain leads have been picked up and some people have been detained in connection with the serials blasts here triggered by terrorists, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje said on Wednesday.
There are some "slender leads" on which the state Agencies
are working and its difficult to name any terror outfit at
present, she told a press conference here.
While no one has yet been arrested, some people have been detained for interrogation, the chief minister said in a second press meet since the blasts, but did not give out the number of those being questioned.
So far 63 people have died--56 in SMS hospital and 7 in SDM hospital, she said, adding that the dead included several women and children. The number of those who sustained injuries in the blasts is 118, she said.
Raje said 44 bodies have been identified and handed over to the relatives.
Replying to questions, the Chief Minister said there was
no specific information with regard to the terror strike from
central Agencies except some regular notices sent on Republic
and Independence days to every state.
Earlier, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil spoke to Raje on phone and assured all possible help from the Centre in the wake of the terror strike.
Observing that the blasts were part of a terrorist design to disturb peace in the state, Raje said, "never in the history of Rajasthan such a heinous incident has happened and this is not an attack on the state but on the nation."
She also stressed the need for an anti-terror law like POTA.
"I am not playing politics on the issue but we require central-state cooperation to work against global terror", Raje said.
She said a bill on organised crime passed by Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha in 2006 was still awaiting the President's consent, while similar bills from Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh were cleared long back.
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