NIA team in Darbhanga to investigate parcel blast case

PATNA: A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team headed by one SP-rank officer reached Darbhanga from Delhi on Friday to take over the case of parcel blast at the railway station, which is being suspected to be a terror plot with conspirators owing allegiance to banned organisations or foreign agencies.
The case was being investigated by the government rail police (GRP) at Darbhanga following an FIR registered after the blast on June 17 this year.
It’s suspected that the explosion took place due to some complex inflammable chemical kept inside a 100ml glass bottle, wrapped with adhesive tapes and placed in several layers of clothes parcelled from Secunderabad in Telangana on June 15. It was booked in the name of one Mohammad Sufiyan in Secunderabad by two suspects.
The parcel recipient’s name in Darbhanga was also mentioned as Mohammad Sufiyan. The parcel had exploded soon after it was dumped on the ground at platform number one of Darbhanga railway station on June 17.
State police headquarters sources said experts at the forensic laboratory in Muzaffarpur expressed their inability to ascertain what chemical was used in the explosion after which the bottle was sent to central forensic science laboratory (CFSL) in Kolkata on Wednesday.
“They will analyse the molecular composition and ascertain the type of components kept in it. It can’t be said yet if temperature, pressure or shock acted as a trigger for the blast,” a senior IPS officer said.
When contacted, ADG (railway) Nirmal Kumar Azad said the NIA would take over the case and no one was arrested in Bihar yet. “Our teams went to Hyderabad and Uttar Pradesh for investigation,” he said.
Azad said they were working with different agencies of the central government as well as UP and Telangana police in the case. “The bottle inside which the chemical was kept has been deposited at CFSL Kolkata for forensic analysis. Our team from Secunderabad is expected to return by night,” he added.
State police headquarters sources said the GRP, in coordination with anti-terrorism squad (ATS) of Bihar, UP and Telangana police, were working together in the case and were in constant touch with NIA and the Intelligence Bureau at higher level.
Another senior IPS officer of Bihar said the GRP in Telangana traced and quizzed the taxi driver who had driven the two suspects to Secunderabad railway junction for parcel booking. “Several CCTV camera footages were scanned to ascertain where both suspects had started. The taxi was booked using a mobile based application. We have a few suspicious cellphone numbers as well,” he said.