The Hindu : Front Page : All Delhi joins in hunt for bomb blast suspects

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Nov 04, 2005

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Front Page

All Delhi joins in hunt for bomb blast suspects

Staff Reporter

MISTAKEN IDENTITY: Delhi weekend blast "suspect" Mohammad Nawab Khan in police custody at Ghaziabad on Thursday before he was found to be innocent. - PHOTO: V. SUDERSHAN

NEW DELHI: The Delhi police were flooded with endless phone calls on Thursday from people all over the city and around claiming they had information about the Govindpuri bomb blast suspect whose computer-generated portrait was released by Police Headquarters on Wednesday. Such was the extent of public involvement in the case that a 21-year-old man bearing resemblance to the suspected terrorist was actually overpowered, beaten up and handed over to the police by residents of Vaishali in neighbouring Ghaziabad. The young man was later released after a thorough verification of his identity.

"People are coming forward to provide details about the Govindpuri blast suspect after we released the portrait. We are taking these calls seriously and following them up," said a senior police officer, adding that the police were expecting more cooperation from the public in identification of the terrorists involved in the weekend blasts that left nearly 60 innocent citizens dead and over 200 injured.

The police authorities in various districts across the Capital have been instructed to intensify their ongoing tenant verification drive to find out if there had been any suspicious movement in their areas. "Since we cannot cover all the residential pockets in such a short period, we request the public to come forward and provide us valuable inputs," said the police officer.

Different teams of the Delhi police Special Cell are continuing to mount raids across the city in search of clues. A number of people have already been questioned.

The incident in Ghaziabad took place around 8-30 in the morning when office-goers noticed a young man loitering about in Sector IV of Vaishali under seemingly suspicious circumstances. As he seemed to bear some resemblance to the portrait released by the police, the bystanders took no chance and overpowered him. When he offered resistance, he was beaten up and taken to the local police station.

As soon as news about detention of a "terrorist" spread, senior officers of the Ghaziabad division rushed to the police station and also informed their Delhi counterparts. During interrogation, the young man identified himself as Mohammad Nawab Khan, a native of Dasna. He said he had been staying with his father in a one-room accommodation in the Ghaziabad Development Authority flats.

Nawab said he had gone to the Vaishali Sector IV area to meet one Saleem who had promised to get him a job. "He was waiting for Saleem when on suspicion that he was the one behind the blast inside a Delhi Transport Corporation bus at Govindpuri in South Delhi, the bystanders caught him and handed him over to us," said a police officer.

A Delhi Police sub-inspector was sent out to check the identity of the detainee. After verification of his antecedents, Nawab was let off.

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