The law enforcement agencies have so far failed to locate the suspected accomplice of the suicide bomber who killed 42 army recruits at a training centre in Dargai, Malakand Agency. “The army and security agencies used sniffer dogs and helicopters to pick the trail of the suspect who was seen disappearing in the sugarcane fields of the Khatko Sha village, but in vain,” said local journalist Abidullah Abid. Abid said that on Wednesday, the villagers fired shots at the suspect, but he pulled out a hand grenade from his clothes and threatened to hurl it at them before disappearing in the fields. “The suspect is medium built, in his mid twenties and has a short beard,” Abid said, quoting witnesses who saw the suspect running away from the parade ground after the explosion. A joint investigation team headed by a brigadier and consisting of officers of the MI, ISI and IB has started recording the statements of witnesses and the injured soldiers. Meanwhile, a collective funeral for the martyred soldiers was held at the Punjab Regiment Centre in Mardan. Senior army officials and thousands of mourners were present on the occasion. Their bodies were handed over to their families for burial in their native villages after the namaaz-e-jinaza.