Church Street blast probe breaks down

Bengaluru, March 10: The investigations into the Church Street blasts appears to have hit another dead end with the Bengaluru police once again trying to explore if the five SIMI operatives who escaped from the Khandwa jail in Madhya Pradesh could be behind the attack.

The police had last week brought down two operatives from Bihar and questioned them for nearly a week, but nothing concrete has emerged out of the investigation.

Cops claim vital leads obtained:

Two persons Haider Ali and Umer Siddiqui were brought down to Bengaluru from Bihar last week. The duo were arrested by the NIA last year in connection with the serial blasts at Patna or the Hunkar rally blasts.

After being questioned for several hours by a team of the Bengaluru police, nothing has emerged out of them. The police had, however, stated at the start that the duo were not being viewed as suspects in the case. Moreover when the Church Street blasts took place in December 2014, the duo were already behind bars.

The police, however, claim that they have some information regarding the explosives that were used in the blast. It bears a SIMI signature, an officer informed. However with terror groups aping each other in the preparation of bombs, one is forced to ask if the signature concept in bombs can even be considered during an investigation.

The police have now requested the Bihar police to shed some light on the manner in which the SIMI had procured the explosives for the blasts at Patna. The Bengaluru police feel that this information would lead them to the explosives trail.

Exploring Khandwa yet again:

Last year 5 operatives of the SIMI lodged at the Khadwa jail in Madhya Pradesh had managed to escape. They are accused of running from one part of the country to another and carrying out attacks.

The NIA had even said that these five persons had carried out the Chennai train blast and also were involved in several heists at banks which was used to fund their activities.

At the start of the Church Street blast probe, the Bengaluru police examined this angle too. They had managed to get some grainy footage from the CCTVs and shared it with their counterparts in Madhya Pradesh. However, the Madhya Pradesh police said that these were not the persons involved in the Khandwa jail break case.

The Bengaluru police now say that they would want to explore that angle again. These youth have a motive and looking at their pattern it appears as though they may have struck at Bengaluru too an officer informed.

No records of the calls made:

During the investigation, the police have picked up data from the mobile towers in and around the Church Street area. There were at least 1.5 lakh calls which were examined during the course of the investigation.

However, it has been found that not a single call in relation to the Church Street blast was made from that area. The police have also managed to get vital data from the CCTV footage which has only made matters worse for them.

OneIndia News