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Karnataka cops clueless about hand behind blasts

Fakir Chand in Bangalore

The city police are still in the dark over the identity of those behind the two blasts that rocked the Garden City on Sunday night.

Though Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna and State Home Minister Mallikarjun Kharge claimed Monday that the police had vital clues, the next day the police announced a cash reward for more clues on the blasts at churches in the state, two recently, and one in June at Wadi, near Gulbarga, in north Karnataka.

Joint Commissioner of Police B N Nagaraj told rediff.com that the Corps of Detectives had formally taken over investigations.

"The home ministry is in touch with the state government on progress in the investigations. We suspect the blasts are the handiwork of Inter-Services Intelligence operatives, to foment communal trouble," he added.

The CoD is seeking police help in Andhra Pradesh and Goa, to determine whether the same group was involved in blasts there last month. Police experts from AP also arrived here to gather more information on the incidents.

The police claimed similarities in the church blasts and in a Maruti van the same night. The police said the explosives in the van could have gone off accidentally .

The COD will interrogate Ibrahim, a chartered accountant, who was injured in the van blast. He is being treated at a hospital in the city. "We are keeping a strict vigil at the hospital, where he is in the ICU. He is a key witness," Nagraj said.

The other occupants in the van who died have been identified as Zaheer and Siddiqui. The van, ripped apart with the impact of the blast, had a Goa registration number.

According to Director General of Police C Dinakar, the explosive used at Wadi and the one that went off in a city church on Sunday appeared to be from the same source. "The explosives used in the Hubli church attack were, however, different. All aspects are being looked into," the DGP added.

The chief minister said he would rather wait for investigations to be completed before coming to any conclusion. "The state government will get to the bottom of the issue and the guilty will be dealt with severely. My government is committed to protecting minorities in the state at any cost."

Karnataka Legislative Council chairman David Simeon had alleged that the attacks on churches could be the handiwork of the Sangh Parivar or the ISI.

In an interview to a local television channel, the Pejavar Math Seer Sri Vishwesha Theertha Swami lamented that the attacks were tarnishing the secular fabric of the country and felt it could be the work of a foreign hand, to weaken the foundation of the country.

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