Suspect sketches out, cops studying video

“The train, which departs from Varanasi at 6.45 pm, usually arrives on Platform No. 1 by 6.15 pm. The bomb was timed for 6.35 pm. But that day, the train came to the platform from the washing lines only at 6.30 pm. The terrorists panicked and ran away leaving the bomb in the waiting room,” said a senior STF officer. “Loss of life would have been much higher if the bomb had gone off inside the packed train.”

Two sketches released today have been prepared on the basis of information provided by a shopkeeper at Godolia ghat. The two men had spoken to the shopkeeper for a few minutes, and then left without taking a bag they had brought with them.

When they didn’t return to collect it, the shopkeeper alerted the police. The bag contained a bomb which was later defused.

While an unknown Kashmiri group, Lashkar-e-Qahaar, has claimed responsibility for the blasts, the authorities believe it might be an attempt to divert attention from the role of the Lashkar-e-Toiba. The shopkeeper has told police the suspects looked like Kashmiris.

“After the Delhi blasts, the Islamic Muslim Mahaz had claimed responsibility. But later Tariq Dar was arrested as the man behind the blasts, and he was associated with the Lashkar group. Any proof of Laskhar involvement obviously puts Pakistan in a spot,” said a highly placed source.

Police have also managed to trace calls made to foreign countries from the blast site areas before the explosions or just after them. “The STF is examining the telephone calls,” SSP Navniet Sekera said.

Meanwhile, the police continue to check on a “suspicious-looking person” spotted in the videotape of a wedding ceremony at the Sankatmochan temple just before the bomb went off.

The Godolia ghat shopkeeper told police that the two men who came to him were fair, of average height, and seemed to be outsiders. “They were having difficulty speaking Hindi,” Sekera said, adding that he was in touch with the Jammu and Kashmir Police.

It is believed the terrorists arrived in the city two-three days ago and may have had local contacts who helped them. Sekera, however, refused to speculate on that, saying it was too early.