Sleuths probing the terror attack on Samjhauta Express have found significant leads, top intelligence sources claimed. "We have found items which have unique features and can help us reach the perpetrators," they said. The needle of suspicion points to the dreaded Laskhar-e-Taiba, the gang behind several atrocities, though sources cautioned that a determination is yet to be made. The breakthrough in the search for clues was confirmed by home minister Shivraj Patil who told presspersons: "We have sufficient information but we are not going to reveal for the sake of investigations." Coming from the usually cautious Patil, the assertion was seen as corroborating the confidence of the investigating agencies that they might be able to crack the case soon.
| Investigators have detained one Pakistani citizen travelling in the train on the basis an account given by an injured passenger about his suspicious movements inside the train. |
Sources also said investigations will focus on finding out the identity of the person who bought the suitcase used for carrying the explosives. Sleuths are also going to trawl the passenger manifest for the ill-fated Samjhauta Express as a top priority as they look to get more leads. They will want all details from Pakistan of the 527 passengers who completed their onward journey. Though Pakistani agencies hardly have a history of cooperating with their Indian counterparts, this request will be difficult to turn down as victims included Pakistani nationals. Inadvertently, the joint terror mechanism may deliver some results.
| A total of 605 persons had boarded the train at Old Delhi railway station on Sunday night, and it was felt that the explosives had timers set to go off in about an hour of departure. |
There has been little success in turning up e-mail or cellphone exchanges so far, indicating that terrorists may have learnt from the past where electronic trails had provided important breakthroughs. This means that forensic evidence will be even more vital than is usually the case and there may be a lot of old-fashioned policing to be done.
| The identity of the group behind the attack is yet to be established, but the methods used, as has been the case often in the past, point to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). |
Officials in the home ministry accepted that intelligence agencies had really been caught unaware as there had been no specific intelligence about such a terror attack on Samjhauta Express.
| Preliminary investigations revealed that the terrorists had planted suitcases carrying improvised explosives devices in at least three coaches, of which two were triggered by timers. |
Though the possibility of the bombers not actually boarding the train cannot be ruled out, sleuths would reach any such conclusion only after complete verification of the passenger lists. The possibility that they remained sitting in another compartment and might have crossed into Pakistan by now is not bring brushed aside.
While explosives were kept in three general compartments of the train, there is a list of passengers which sleuths feel could take them to terrorists. As evidenced in Mumbai suburban trains blasts, these attacks are not carried out by fidayeen and the perpetrators leave the site after hiding the bombs.
Home ministry sources said agencies are looking for passengers who were to board the train but did not undertake the journey. It is suspected that the bomber or bombers may have boarded the coach, left explosives in these compartments and disembarked at the departure point of Old Delhi itself. Lax security at the Old Delhi station for boarding the train could have come handy in this task.