By Syed Zarir Hussain, IANS,
Guwahati : Police in Assam said they would soon release a few sketches of suspects involved in one of the deadliest terror bombings in the region that killed 77 people and wounded 300 more, officials said.
“We are working on some sketches after some eyewitnesses voluntarily came to us to provide details of few people they thought could have been involved in one of the blasts,” Assam Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta told IANS.
A team of artists from the detective wing of the Assam police is working on the sketches.
“An expert sketch artist from Kolkata is arriving in Guwahati to help our team in finalising the sketches of the suspects. The team would take the help of computers to finalise them,” Mahanta said.
Pradip Konwar, a lawyer, has come out to help prepare the sketches.
“I saw two people moving around suspiciously in the blast site at the court and hence thought of helping the police,” Konwar told IANS.
The entire investigations into Thursday’s blasts are now being headed by a Special Investigation Team headed by Inspector General of Police R. Chandranathan.
“We have got vital leads into the blasts although it would be premature to divulge details at this stage. The jigsaw puzzle is likely to be solved,” a senior intelligence official said requesting he not be named.
“This is no doubt the deadliest terror strikes in the region,” Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said.
There is, however, no confirmation yet as to who carried out the serial blasts. Assam was rocked by a wave of bombings – 12 blasts in quick succession – six in Guwahati, and six in the three western districts of Barpeta, Kokrajhar and Bongaigaon Thursday afternoon – leaving at least 77 people dead and over 300 injured.
Authorities earlier hinted of local militant groups in collaboration with “jehadi” forces of being involved in the coordinated explosions. The most influential rebel army in the state, the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), denied having carried out the explosions.
“I don’t think the ULFA would carry out the strikes killing innocent civilians as they would not like to be marginalized. However, the ULFA possesses explosives and materials like RDX, ammonium nitrate, and Programmable Time Explosive Devices,” said Jiten Dutta, a former ULFA commander.
Dutta led by his two companies, the Alpha and the Charlie companies of the 28th battalion, declared a unilateral ceasefire in June this year. The 28th battalion is ULFA’s most potent striking unit.
Police have already detained three people in connection with the blasts, including a person named Nazir Ahmed from whose mobile phone a text message was sent Friday to a local satellite television channel claiming responsibility for the blasts.