Ten days after Patna was hit by a series of crude bomb blasts that targeted the public meeting of BJPs prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi,Bihar Police Wednesday claimed it had cracked the case and said the attack was the handiwork of the Indian Mujahideen. Investigators have also found evidence linking the Patna blasts to the July 7 blasts in Bodhgaya,Bihar Police chief Abhayanand said and added that that case,presently with the NIA,was also as good as solved. The evidence also showed that the alleged perpetrators of the two attacks were planning to target some religious places in the country,Abhayanand said. Police sources claimed the NIA and Jharkhand Police had also found 31 audio and video CDs showing attacks on Muslims in Gujarat,Muzaffarnagar and elsewhere in the country and abroad when they raided the house of suspected IM operative Imtiaz Ansari in Ranchi two days back. Ansari is one of three men arrested in connection with the case. It is almost confirmed. There is no doubt about it, Abhayanand said referring to the role of the IM. During the course of the Patna blasts investigation,there were revelations about the Bodhgaya blasts as well. Seizures from the Ranchi lodge included detailed maps of Gandhi Maidan,Patna railway station and also a detailed map of Bodhgaya with information of the entire planning behind the Bodhgaya blasts, he told a news conference. Asked if the CDs and VCDs seized contained footage of the 2002 Gujarat riots,the DGP replied: These are CDs of massacres that have occurred at various places,you can hazard a guess.These CDs and VCDs are of riots and massacres that took place in the country and outside. A Jharkhand Police officer with knowledge of the raids conducted on locations of suspects in Ranchi said a map of Gandhi Maidan was found in the room of Iram Lodge in Ranchi occupied by Mujibullah Ansari,who is now absconding. It is a map drawn by hand using a pencil. It is quite crude,demarcating the boundary of the maidan along with some buildings on the periphery. We are working on the theory that at least a part of the Patna blasts conspiracy was hatched in the room, said the officer. Police believe that Hyder Ali,on the most wanted list of the NIA and a suspect in the Patna blasts case,stayed at the lodge. He was either Mujibullahs roommate or lived in an adjacent room. The proof of identity that he submitted claims he is Salim Ansari,but we have not been able to verify the address yet, the officer said. The photograph on the identity card allegedly resembles that of Hyder and a forensic examination is expected to clear the air. Abhayanand said Patna Police had arrested Ansari,Tabish and Ainul in connection with the blasts and Ainul,who had suffered serious injuries when the bomb he was allegedly putting together on the day of the blasts had exploded,died in hospital. He said police was looking for more people but would not disclose their names until they were arrested. Connecting the blasts in Bodhgaya and Patna,Abhayanand said: In both cases,Lotus company watch timers were used but the serial number of the Bodhgaya timer watches was different. The Ranchi and Patna bombs had the same serial numbers. He said the attackers had made 18 bombs for Patna of which seven exploded. There was a gap of five minutes between explosions and some bombs did not go off due to faulty assembly. He said the pipe bombs were kept on the surface and not buried in holes dug for bamboo poles at Gandhi Maidan. The bombs also used gelatin of Rajpower-90 brand,he added. Police sources in Ranchi said the 25 gelatin sticks seized during a raid on Iram Lodge in the city Monday evening were also of the same brand. Rajpower-90 features on the list of explosives authorised by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Rajasthan Explosives and Chemicals Ltd.,which has its offices in Delhis Satya Niketan,manufactures the nitrate mixture which is a Class 2 explosive. The sale of these materials leaves a paper trail,which can be traced back to the distributor. We are making progress of tracking the individual down, said a Jharkhand Police officer. Jharkhand Police say that prima facie,the inflammable dark powder found in Imtiaz Ansaris house and that found in the elbow bombs seized from the lodge are the same. Meanwhile,the NIA,which took over the Patna blasts probe Wednesday,has expressed its displeasure to the Union home Ministry over the handling of the Patna and Ranchi bombs cases by police of the two states. Senior NIA officials claimed the probe against IM operatives on the run was being hampered by Bihar and Jharkhand police leaking details of investigations. The agency has also complained that the Jharkhand police registered a separate FIR into the seizures of bombs in Ranchi which was not required. The bombs were seized as part of investigations into the Patna blasts and there was no need to register a separate FIR,it has said. The agency has asked MHA to intervene and transfer the Ranchi case to NIA. It is also said to have blamed Bihar Police for wrongly informing the media last week that a witness had escaped from NIA custody. - with inputs from Deepu Sebastian Edmond in Ranchi and Rahul Tripathi in Delhi
