Sketches of blasts suspects out

Police on Thursday made a breakthrough in Tuesday's Gorakhpur blasts case and released sketches of two suspects who had bought bicycles used in carrying out the explosions. The development came while Director General of Police GL Sharma told reporters in Lucknow that ammonium nitrate powder was found in the explosives in the three blasts.

The bombs had been kept in lunch boxes on bicycles.

Senior Superintendent of Police RK Rai, who released the sketches in Gorakhpur, said they were made on the basis of information furnished by the bicycle shop owners. He said one youth was 21-years-old and the other 16-17.

The SSP announced a reward of Rs 10,000 to anyone providing information about the two youth.

Talking to mediapersons, Rai said all the three bicycles were new. Police tried to trace the buyers on the basis of the number on the frame of the bicycles. He said two of the bicycles were purchased on the day of blasts from the two shops in the Kotwali police station area of the city.
The SSP said one of the youth had been dropped at the bicycle shop by a motorcyclist. The other had walked to another shop in the same locality.

Rai said the first youth had mentioned his name on the receipt as Iftekhar of Maya Bazar locality while the second called himself Sameer of Gol Ghar.

He said while the names and addresses could be fake, the sketches may help nab the youth and ultimately the mastermind.

He denied the Gorakhpur blasts had any link with the Varanasi blasts of last year.

Meanwhile, an IB team joined the investigation. The team reached the city on Wednesday evening.

Addressing mediapersons in Lucknow, Sharma said some nuts and bolts were recovered from the site of the bomb explosion but the use of timer device was yet to be confirmed.

He said that during his Gorakhpur visit a meeting of the superintendents of police of Gorakhpur, Maharajganj, Siddharthnagar was held under his chairmanship.

"I told the officers clearly that if any mistake was committed on their part, the state government would issue orders for their suspension. Do your duty honestly and take measures to control crime," he said.

"The SSP Gorakhpur has been directed to carry out regular patrolling in sensitive areas. Work freely and there will be no political pressure either from the ruling political party or from the opposition," he said.