By IANS
Hyderabad : Claiming to have made “considerable” progress in the investigations into Saturday’s twin bomb blasts, Hyderabad police Wednesday released the sketch of a man it said may have planted the bomb at Lumbini Park.
Ponna Rao, Additional Commissioner, Crime, who is heading the investigations, told a news conference that the sketch was based on description given by an eyewitness who was injured.
“The suspect is aged about twenty-five years, height about five feet 9 inches and his complexion is very fair and his hair is smooth,” said the official. The suspect was wearing glasses.
The eyewitness told police that the suspect sat next to him for quite some time at the laser show in the open-air auditorium at Lumbini Park. He was carrying a black bag. There was no conversation between the two. The eyewitness later moved to another row after finding a friend there.
The witness, who is undergoing treatment at a local hospital, was able to show the place where they sat, did not notice when the suspect left his seat.
“Basing on this description we made the photo sketch of the person. An expert from Mumbai was called to catch the graphic description. When the sketch was completed we again cross checked with the witness, who said it is more than 90 percent accurate,” Rao said.
The official appealed to people who were at the laser show to approach the police with information if they had seen this person.
He said that with 594 persons having watched the laser show Saturday, someone may have seen the man. The sketch will be shown to security personnel and other employees at the park.
Eleven people were killed in the explosion at Lumbini Park. Minutes later another bomb exploded in Gokul Chat, a famous eatery in the Koti area, killing 32 people.
Rao claimed that considerable progress had been made in the investigations but refused to divulge details.
Meanwhile, police clarified that a youth arrested Tuesday under suspicious circumstances had no involvement in the blasts. Abdullah, a native of Assam, was held by locals at Bowenpalli. He had injuries on his head and hands. Investigations, however, revealed that he was a petty thief and had nothing to do with blasts.
The needle of suspicion points to the Bangladesh-based Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami (HUJI), which was also blamed for the May 18 blast at the historic Mecca Masjid. HUJI activist Sharfuddin, a Bangladeshi, is believed to have assembled the explosives.
Police are also probing the role of Shahid alias Bilal, a native of Hyderabad and suspected HUJI operative. He is suspected to be the mastermind behind the mosque blast.