Goa blasts — Police suspect ISI, still no clues

PANJIM, JUNE 11: The state police made no tangible progress on Sunday in the investigations into the blast that occurred at St Andrew's Ch...

PANJIM, JUNE 11: The state police made no tangible progress on Sunday in the investigations into the blast that occurred at St Andrew’s Church at Vasco on Thursday morning. However, police are convinced about ISI involvement in the blast. The police are constantly in touch with their counterparts in the other states where such blasts have occurred on the same day.

Deputy IGP Karnal Singh told The Indian Express that the police investigations were being pursued on the theory of ISI involvement, as the modus operandi at other places, especially at Gulbarga, is the same. Singh, however, added that as of now, the police do not have any substantial clues or evidence to draw final conclusions. When asked why only country bombs were used and not more sophisticated explosives such as RDX, Singh said that in 1997-98, when in Delhi nearly 30 explosions took place, only low power explosives were used by the perpetrators.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Francisco Sardinha, also told a post-Cabinet meeting press conference, that DGP Gurucharan Singh Sandhu was in constant touch with his counterparts in neighbouring Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, the two states where similar blasts occurred in church properties on Thursday. Sardinha said he also agreed with the police about ISI involvement. The BJP, sharing power in the Sardinha ministry, also has put up the theory of a foreign hand in the incident. The Opposition Congress has however blamed the BJP and other fundamental forces.

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Sardinha said he has also asked the police to seek assistance in probing the incident from any quarter, including the Intelligence Bureau and other Central agencies. "I have told them not to leave a single stone unturned," he added.

Sardinha also appealed to the public to convey their suspicions to the police. DIG Karnal Singh said he had asked the religious heads to take precautionary measures as these forces were trying to create communal tensions and disharmony. He, however, declined to give any further information about the ongoing investigations.

The citizens of Vasco in a meeting held yesterday, strongly condemned the failure of the state intelligence and the Goa police for the bomb blast.

The bomb blast incident coming in the wake of the bomb scare near the oil installation barely two months ago, shows that law-enforcing agencies are not serious about their job, the citizens said in a resolution. Those who spoke at the meeting were prominent Congress leaders.