Probe agencies pin hope on unidentified man in video footage

Varanasi, Mar 9 (UNI) Agencies probing Tuesday's ghastly incident here are now pinning hope on the identification of a person caught in the video footage of a marriage ceremony that took place at the Sankatmochan temple at the time of first bomb blast in Varanasi.

Senior police officials minutely watched the CD of the footage in the presence of both the bride and groom's family members.

Each person shown in the footage was identified by them.

However, one person was still to be identified, police sources claimed adding the probe agencies are trying to track him down.

SSP Navniet Sikera, however, said it was not necessary that the unidentified man was involved in the attack and could have been an on-looker.

But, he must be identified for the probe to progress in the right direction, Mr Sikera maintained.

The bride and the groom had also sustained wounds in the blast.

The twin blasts at Sankatmochan temple and Cantonment Railway Station on Tuesday evening had claimed at least 17 lives and wounded scores of others at both the places.

Meanwhile, the wounded persons were also being interrogated.

Police had already issued computer sketch of two persons found roaming in suspicious manner in Godolia area here, where two live bombs were difused following the blast.

With videography, computer generated sketches, besides some other vital clues, the investigating agencies could zero in to the group behind the blasts, police sources said.

As many as five pressure cookers -- two still untraced -- were bought by the suspected terrorists to be used in the preparation of Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Varanasi bomb blasts.

This fact came to light during sustained investigation in the case when the police managed to track down the shop in the wholesale market in Harhasarai from where the pressure cookers were procured.

''The shopkeeper is being interrogated in this regard,'' highly placed police sources said.

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