NIA suspects local hand in Pune blasts

Members of the National Investigating Agency who are part of Wednesday's Pune serial blasts probe say that the entire operation looks as though it had been planned locally. Vicky Nanjappa reports.

Right from the timer devices, a locally-made clock and locally purchased bicycles, all indications are that the entire operation was planned in Pune.

The perpetrators triggered off the blast using a timer device and clocks. Even the timer devices were purchased locally.

While the Indian Mujahideen is one of the suspects, the police have now recommenced the questioning of Dayanand Patil, the tailor who was injured in the blasts. Police sources say that they are suspicious about him, since he has not been consistent in his answers.

Although the police are unable to link Patil to any module or outfit, they feel that questioning him could provide more clues. At first, he had said that he had picked the box (containing the bomb) out of curiosity, and then he changed his statement, and said that he had not picked up any box.

"Quite possibly he is in a state of shock, so we will give him some more time to give us with the exact version," an official, who is a part of the probe, said.

Although, the police continue to question Patil, they are yet to register a case against him which would mean that he is not being treated as an accused yet. However, as a precautionary measure, the police have impounded his passport.

Apart from this, the police have also sent the materials used to assemble the bomb to the forensics sciences lab. While it more or less clear that there was ammonium nitrate, they are foxed by the sticky substance used in the bomb. It is odourless and could be a sort of gel used in the bomb making process, police also pointed out.

With regard to the bicycles, the police said that they were questioning the man who sold them. He is a local vendor and he has told the police that the bicycles were purchased only a couple of hours before the blast.

With the help of this person, the police will draw out a sketch apart from using the footage they managed to get from the CCTVs.

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad will also revisit the German Bakery case to find some clues and connection to this attack. Thought it's too early to say whether the two attacks were interconnected or not, but the routine procedure and questioning of some of the accused in that blast will also take place.

Pune Modules

Pune plays host to modules of both the IM as well as some of the Right Wing groups. Both these factions have been literally at war with each other for many years now.

The modus operandi used by both modules is similar in nature and at the moment it would be very difficult to pinpoint as which of these groups could have carried out the attack.

"Although the IM had resurfaced from Bihar, it would not be correct to say that their modules are dead in Pune, which was once their headquarters," Intelligence Bureau officials point out.