Clutching at clues: a driver in Gujarat, radio messages from Pak

‘‘During investigation, it was found that Raju Thakore, driver of car number GJ 1 U 2234, dropped two youths at Akshardham on Tuesday evening. Thakore and taxi owner Mansukhbhai Acharya identified the two militants from the photographs shown to them,’’ the statement said.

‘‘They said they had taken a fare of Rs 120…(and) also identified the militants when their bodies kept at Ahmedabad civil hospital morgue were shown to them on Friday afternoon. The youths had arrived at the Ahmedabad railway station between 2 and 3.30 pm on Tuesday. Further investigations are on.’’

In New Delhi, Union Home Ministry officials said that based on intercepts of radio conversations between terrorists in Kashmir and across the border, their identity has been ‘‘more or less’’ been established as Mohammad Amjad Bhai of Lahore and Hafiz Yasir from Attock.

The Gujarat police, however, were silent on the identity of the militants. When asked about reports from New Delhi naming the two, Chakravarthy told The Indian Express that he was not aware of any such reports and declined to comment.

Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal today told the US pointperson for South Asia Christina Rocca that the finger of suspicion was ‘‘increasingly’’ pointing towards Lashkar. Officials said that although the Tehreek-e-Kisas—the group named in the note found on the bodies—was a hitherto unknown group, the method used by the terrorists was similar to that of the Lashkar.

The Gujarat police and Anti-Terrorist Squad took the investigation into overdrive late last evening when photos of the two militants were passed around at public places and a person mentioned seeing two similar youths at Ahmedabad railway station carrying bags.

While inquiring at taxi stands, police came to know that on the day of the attack, three white taxis went to drop passengers at Gandhinagar. Further investigation led to taxi driver Raju Thakore, a resident of Asarwa, and the owner of the taxi Mansukhbhai Bhagwandas Acharya.

Thakore was questioned on Thursday night and released a few hours later. On Friday morning, he was called again. Late in the night, the DGP confirmed that the two militants went to Akshardham in Thakore’s taxi.

The driver is said to have told police that during the journey to Gandhinagar, the two persons hardly spoke to each other and that one of them spoke only once when he asked him at the Koba corner if there was any hotel nearby where they could get drink water.

The driver also told the police that he never thought they could be terrorists and had, in fact, taken them to be newly recruited Army jawans, as they were wearing green camouflage vests and had bags.

The driver said that due to the recent riots, the number of people visiting Ahmedabad had dropped. So when the passengers refused to pay the normal fare of Rs 200 and started bargaining, he agreed to accept Rs 120.

The driver recalled that on reaching Gate III of Akshardham, the passengers asked him to stop the vehicle. At this, he told them that the main entrance was further away, but the passengers said they wanted to get down there itself.

After learning about the attack on the temple and the description of the terrorists in the media, drivers at the Kalupur railway station stand recalled that that two passngers matching the description had come on Tuesday afternoon.

An informer heard about it and tipped off ATS which zeroed in on Raju Thakore.

Based on the time when the two militants hired the taxi, the police are assuming that they had arrived either by the Jammu-Tawi Express or Gujarat Express. The police are also checking hotels, lodges and other taxi stands to find out if the two militants had visited Ahmedabad earlier.

The police also sent the photographs of the two militants to Intelligence Bureau, New Delhi. A team of IB officials arrived from Delhi and with forensic experts are examining the Akshardham complex to gather clues.