Malegaon investigators have no clue

New Delhi: Four bomb blasts rocked Malegaon on Friday afternoon leaving 31 people dead and nearly 300 injured.

Although 15 people from across the state have been detained, investigators have no definite leads on the multiple bomb blasts.

A ten-member special investigation team has been formed to with Nasik police and the Mumbai-based Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) to probe Malegaon blasts, Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil said.

The ATS team from Mumbai arrived at the blast site on Friday and began investigations at midnight, Patil said.

Announcing a reward of Rs 5 lakh for information leading to the attackers, Patil added that a special cell has been set up in Malegaon where the people can give any information in this regard.

Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil also assured that the police and the intelligence machinery are doing their best to book the culprits responsible for the terror attack.

''Everything necessary is being done. The Centre and the State are co-operating and intelligence is being shared,'' he added.

Personnel from the ATS and National Security Guard (NSG) joined forensic experts from Mumbai and Nashik to collect evidence from the Noorani mosque, a nearby graveyard and the busy Mushaira Chowk, the three spots where the explosions occurred.

P K Jain, the Special Inspector General (Nashik range), said, "There are certain leads we are trying to follow. Apparently, some bicycles (used in the attacks) have been recovered. What kind of explosives were used...will be clear after the lab reports come in."

Samples of remains of explosives have been sent to the forensic science laboratory in Mumbai, where tests to identify the explosive were likely to be completed by Saturday evening, sources said.

The ATS sources were non-committal whether deadly explosive RDX was used, even in minute quantity, in the explosive devices.

"We suspect that RDX, that was being transported by suspected Lashkar-e-Toiba members near Aurangabad, a portion of which was seized in May, has still not been fully seized. It cannot be ruled out that some of that may have been used yesterday," an ATS official said.

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A senior Maharashtra police officer told PTI that many of the injured had splinter injuries, indicating that explosive devices similar to timer-fitted crude bombs could have been used.

"There were definitely timer-fitted devices and evidence at the moment suggests that an analogue or a digial timer may have been used," he added.

Till Saturday morning, government authorities and the police were maintaining that only three blasts took place. However, on Saturday, ATS chief, K P Raghuvanshi told PTI that four blasts took place. "Three of them took place inside the Kabrastan, while one took place at Mushaira chowk," he said.

State police sources, meanwhile, said one bomb each was placed on a bicycle at Bada Kabrastan and Mushaira chowk, while the other two bombs that exploded at Bada Kabrastan were planted in the vicinity of the compound wall of the Kabrastan.

The ATS chief also said that a low-intensity explosive was used in the devices to trigger the blasts.

Raghuvanshi said it was too premature to comment on suspected involvement of groups in the blasts till the forensic reports provided an idea on the nature of explosives used in the devices.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde called for a CBI probe into the matter. "A sitting High Court judge should probe the blasts, which are aimed at fomenting communal trouble in the state," Munde said.

"ATS has been a failure in probing the July 11 Mumbai serial blasts," he said. He also demanded the resignation of Patil over the law and order situation in the state.

(With inputs from agencies)