Blasts: Police prepare sketch of suspect

Mumbai/Patna, Jul 18: A suspected Huji operative was picked up in Bihar and Mumbai police prepared the first sketch of a suspect but a breakthrough eluded investigators four days after Wednesday's triple blasts.

Reyayul Sarkar alias Akash Khan (30), who claims to hail from Bangladesh, was arrested in Bihar's Kishenganj district and police seized from him a diary with Marathi notings. He was missing from the area when the Mumbai terror attack took place.

But the police did not want to jump to any conclusion.

"We are verifying all aspects. It is yet to be established whether he has any links with the Mumbai blasts," R K Mishra, SP Kishenganj, told PTI. Police had earlier ruled out any connection of Sarkar with Wednesday's blasts.

A senior ATS official in Mumbai said the sketch of the suspect in the serial blasts based on eyewitness accounts has been prepared.

"The sketch of the suspect is ready. It will be circulated among the select and top investigating officials It will not be released to the public," he said.

Two to three more sketches of suspects based on eyewitness accounts and CCTV footage would also be made, ATS sources said.

Widening the probe, police teams also fanned out to seven states to get definite leads in a desperate hunt for the bombers of the July 13 terror attack that left 19 dead and over 130 injured.

As investigations continued, brother of an alleged Indian Mujahideen(IM) member died in a hospital Mumbai while in police custody after being questioned on the blasts.

Faiz Usmani, brother of Afzal Usmani, who is currently lodged in jail for his role in the 2008 Gujarat blasts, today died at 1:30 AM while he was undergoing treatment for hemiparesis and hypertension in the Lokmanya Tilak Hospital, doctors said.

Usmani, a resident of suburban Govandi, was picked up for questioning yesterday by Chembur's Crime Branch unit and as he was not feeling well, he was admitted to the Hospital in Sion at around 5:50 PM. Usmani's family alleged that he was tortured in custody.

Maharashtra DGP Ajit Parasnis ordered a CID inquiry into the death. "A CID inquiry has been ordered into the death of Usmani by the DGP. The state CID will look into various aspects that resulted in his death," Joint Police Commissioner (Law and Order) Rajnish Seth said.

PTI