Police release sketches of Malegaon blasts suspects

MALEGAON: Working on some "concrete clues", police on Saturday released sketches of two suspects in the bomb attacks and said high intensity explosives, possibly RDX, were used in the blasts.

Police zeroed in on two shops where the attackers allegedly bought bicycles that were used to plant the bombs at the Bada Kabrastan (cemetery) and Mushaira Chowk that killed 31 people and injured nearly 300 on Friday.

Information provided by the shop-owners and other witnesses was used to prepare drawings of the men who bought the bicycles, said Inspector General of Police (Nashik range) P K Jain.

"There is no clarity on the kind of explosives used in Friday's blasts and we are still awaiting the forensic report, but from the injuries sustained, where splinters have entered the bodies of the victims, we can deduce that high intensity explosives were used," Jain said.

A highly placed police official in Mumbai said the explosive devices in Malegaon possibly contained RDX and were "identical" to bombs used in the blasts on trains in the metropolis on July 11.

"The devices used in the two attacks are quite identical, and in the Malegaon blasts, the use of RDX is becoming evident," the police official supervising the probe said.

Jain said police were also working on "two to three concrete clues" they had uncovered, without giving details.

Jain said investigators are looking at "various angles", including links to the July 11 bombings, an incident in Nanded in April when two Bajrang Dal activists were killed while allegedly trying to make a bomb, and possible international connections.

A team of 20 officers, including specialists from the National Security Guard, were working on the case. Some of them had been sent to other places, he said without disclosing details.

Forensic tests have prompted investigators to probe the possibility that the perpetrators of the attacks in Malegaon and Mumbai were the same persons or belonged to the same terrorist group, sources said.

Jain dismissed reports that police had found two live bombs in the cemetery. Though some boxes were found after the blasts, they contained nothing suspicious, he said.

There are two aspects to the case -- the interrogation of suspects and "investigations where any person who can help in the case", he said.

Jain also appealed to the public to "maintain peace and unity" so that police could focus on their investigation instead of using forces to maintain law and order.

Mob gheraoes DSP demanding arrest of blast culprits

A mob in a Malegaon locality gheraoed Nasik district superintendent of police on Saturday and demanded immediate arrest of culprits behind Friday's multiple blasts.

According to Malegaon Control Room police, the 200-strong mob gheraoed District Superintendent of police Rajvardhan at Pawarwadi locality demanding immediate arrest of the main culprits behind the blasts which claimed 31 lives and injured nearly 300.

The mob dispersed after the DSP assured that proper investigation was in place to nab the culprits.

Meanwhile, two offences were registered against unidentified persons for rioting at Azad Nagar Police Station where mob pelted stones and damaged two police vans soon after the blasts, police added.