Owner of bike used in Bangalore blast traced: Shinde
New Delhi, Apr 18 (PTI): Investigators probing the Bangalore blast have tracked down the owner of the motorcycle where the bomb was planted but no one has been arrested so far in connection with yesterday's explosion.
Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde today said that with the help of Tamil Nadu Police, the first buyer of the motorcycle has been traced and then the second buyer and from there they traced the third person who bought the bike.
"So far, we have not come to any conclusion about the people behind yesterday's blast. Investigation is such a matter that we cannot say we can do within a definite period of time. But I assure the nation that we will book the culprits, we will book the perpetrators and we are on that way," he said at a press conference here. He, however, said so far no one has been arrested.
Shinde said the Home Ministry has been alerting all states for the last two-three months that there was a possibility of a terror attack being carried out in places where such incidents had taken place in the past and also in metro cities.
He also referred to the blast at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore exactly three years ago. Asked about the nature of explosives used in yesterday's blast, Shinde said Improvised Explosive Devices were used.
He also dismissed the suggestion that the explosion was an attempt to disrupt the democratic process in Karnataka where assembly elections will be held next month.
The Home Minister said no specific alert has been issued to any state about the possibility of targeting of any religious place but general alerts have been issued. "Whenever we have any specific information, we immediately share with the concerned state government," he said.
Asked whether the probe will be handed over to the NIA whose teams are helping the Bangalore Police, Shinde said no decision has been taken on it as the central government will have to seek the consent of the state government before taking a call.
The Home Minister also refused to draw a parallel between the twin blasts in Hyderabad on February 21 and yesterday's explosion in Bangalore. "It cannot not be said who was responsible for Hyderabad blasts," he said.
Asked whether there was any specific threat to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as suggested by a section of the media, the Home Minister said he had no such information.
Earlier News
No breakthrough in Bangalore blast, Rs 5 lac for clues
Bangalore, Apr 18 (IANS): The Karnataka government Thursday announced a reward of Rs.5 lakh to anyone providing credible information on the blast near the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) office in the city, in which 16 people were injured.
"We will reward Rs.5 lakh to anyone providing credible information on the bomb blast that would help us in cracking the case and arresting the suspects," state Director General of Police (DGP) Lalrokhuma Pachau told reporters here. There has been no breakthrough in the4 casse yet.
Admitting that there was no breakthrough even 24 hours after the incident Wednesday in the upscale locality of Malleshwaram, Pachau said four special teams were formed to coordinate with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and forensic experts in cracking the case.
"Joint Commissioner of Police Pranab Mohanty is heading the teams and following leads from the evidence collected at the blast site. As chemicals like ammonium nitrate and a battery-operated timer were used to trigger the explosion, the incident appears to be a terror attack," Pachau asserted.
City police commissioner Raghavendra Auradkar said preliminary investigation did not reveal use of any improvised explosive device (IED) as shrapnel, nails or ball-bearings were not found in the wreckage at the blast site or in the three gutted vehicles, including the motorcycle on which a medium intensity bomb was planted.
"We are working on many clues and leads we got so far. As the case is sensitive and investigation is in progress, we cannot share details till we identify the suspects and find out the motive behind the bomb blast," Auradkar said.
Asked if the city police had intelligence inputs about the blast, Auradkar said there was no specific information. However, there was a special alert from the union home ministry to step up vigil in view of the assembly elections May 5 and the ongoing Indian Premier League T-20 cricket matches in the city.
"We regularly get alerts and inputs from all sources though we cannot share details with media or public in the interest of security and investigation being carried out in the blast case," Auradkar clarified.
NIA sleuths and forensic experts are also scanning the footage from four CCTV cameras installed at the BJP's state unit office to identify two persons who came on the motorbike and parked it between two cars before the incident. As the blast site is at a distance from the party office, the cameras could not capture the two men's images clearly in the footage.
As no one was killed and injuries to the 11 policemen and five civilians were not major, sleuths are probing why the ripped motorbike with the explosive was parked between the two cars, which bore the brunt of the blast.
"Impact of the blast would have been worse and even fatal if the motorbike was parked elsewhere. Luckily, there was no one inside the two gutted cars. The blast, however, was intense as evident from the extensive damage it caused in the area, including windowpanes shattering in surrounding houses," a senior police official told IANS.
Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar visited the blast site and held a meeting with top police officials, NIA sleuths and forensic experts for a first-hand account of the blast incident and reviewed the progress made in the investigation.
"I have visited the blast site late Wednesday and early Thursday to assess the damage. Since the inquiry is in progress, it would not be proper to reveal details at this stage as it may hamper investigation," Shettar told reporters after meeting some of the victims recovering in the state-run hospital.
The city police crime branch also rushed one team each of five officials to Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu for additional clues. The ill-fated motorbike had a Tamil Nadu registration number and had been stolen from Andhra Pradesh.