Hyderabad blasts: Forensics only hope for intelligence sleuths

Agencies investigating the twin blasts in Hyderabad are still groping in the dark as their questioning of about 30 to 40 people in the past two days has met with little success. Besides, the CCTV footage near the blast site is said to be providing no specific information about the suspect who was seen with a cycle and then going by foot minutes before the blast. So, the agencies are looking to work further on the footage and improve its quality.

The investigators are depending largely on the forensic evidence that includes the material found at the site of the blasts.

The suspects interrogated by the Andhra Pradesh Police, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and other central security agencies in the last two days include five people who checked in a lodge at Dilsukhnagar but left just after the explosions. Of the five people, two have turned out to be innocents, sources said adding that one of them had checked into the lodge using a fake name and then checked out minutes before the blasts which caused a suspicion.

The police let off the two after verifying the statement that he had faked his name to keep his identity secret for personal reasons.

Verification of three others, however, is still under process as they had also left the hotel around the time of the explosions.

Struggling with the complexity of the case and inter-state connections, the Centre is expected to hand over the blast case to NIA soon. “Whatever evidence the agencies have collected, all have been sent for forensic examination. There are leads and we are looking into them,” Union minister of state for home RPN Singh said refusing to share details of investigations.

The video footage obtained from the site of the blasts with the help of CCTV cameras show three persons moving suspiciously near bicycles strapped with explosives, just minutes before the explosions. However, sources said, the footage was of low resolution and the details were not available even to make a sketch of the suspect. The footage is believed to be extremely grainy.

In fact, the investigators were trying to send the footage to a local film laboratory to get a proper reconstruction done. However, it is now believed that the laboratory could not retrieve the details beyond a point.

Though unconfirmed, the investigators are believed to be looking a technology available with the FBI to work further on the footage and improve the quality of the image. The FBI had earlier helped the investigators reconstruct the CCTV footage in the 2009 German Bakery blast case. “The CCTV available at Dilsukhnagar was primarily for traffic management. The police control room keeps a watch on the traffic at key junctions using these CCTV cameras. However, they do not give the required resolution for taking images of the suspects,” a source explained.

The twin blasts on last Thursday evening had killed at least 16 and injured about 120 people. Condition of at least three injured is said to be still critical with the injured receiving injuries caused by metal pieces piercing vital body parts.

Meanwhile, there has also been criticism about the way the investigators have rounded up hundreds of suspects in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast in Hyderabad. According to the rights groups, though the suspects in the Mecca case were cleared by the investigation agencies, they are being again suspected without any base.

“All that the claimed progress in investigation is based on the forensic report, which does not give any credible clue for nabbing the culprits,” a source said. So, far apart from establishing that the IEDs at Dilsukhnagar were made out of ammonium nitrate and timers, the investigators have also concluded that the explosives were not triggered using any remote control.