Main Patna terror suspect in custody, another critical

Patna  :  Mohammad Imtiaz Ansari, one of the two terror suspects arrested for serial blasts in Patna, was Tuesday sent to judicial custody by a court here while a second terror suspect is battling for life.

Imtiaz, a resident of Ranchi, described as the brain behind the blasts, was arrested from Patna railway junction after a bomb exploded on platform No.10 Sunday morning, ahead of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s rally here.

A court of the railway magistrate here sent Imtiaz to seven days in judicial custody.

“He was presented before the court of railway magistrate here late Monday night and sent to high-security Beur Central Jail under judicial custody,” said Superintendent of Railway Police Upendra Kumar Singh.

The second terror suspect, Ainul alias Tarique, is admitted at a government hospital here after he was found crying in pain at a Patna railway junction toilet after a bomb exploded when he was trying to fix it or fit a timer.

Arun Kumar, director of the Patna-based Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences where Ainul is admitted with splinter injuries to his brain, said the injured terror suspect continues to be critical.

Arun Kumar said that before his identity was disclosed by the police, he was believed to be a victim of the Patna junction blast.

“With a splinter lodged in in his brain, the chances of his recovery is very poor. He was unconscious and not responding to medication,” Kumar said.

Due to a mix-up of police officials here, it was reported that a bomber died of his injuries Monday. However, it was Rajesh Kumar, a person who was injured in the serial blasts, who died in the Patna Medical College and Hospital, taking up the toll to six.

Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj said two separate FIRs have been lodged with the Hovernment Railway Police and Gandhi Maidan police stations. Six of the seven blasts took place in and around the rally venue while one blast took place at the railway station.

Additional Director General (Special Branch) Rajesh Chandra said Imtiaz, the main accused caught with bombs at the Patna junction when he tried to flee after the first blast, was interrogated and confessed to his involvement.

“Imtiaz told police that a group of six people was divided into three small groups with specific assignments to carry out the blasts,” Chandra said. Manu Maharaj said that Patna police will take Imtiaz in police custody in a day or two.

Six people were killed and 83 injured in seven bomb blasts in Patna. The first of the blasts ripped through a toilet around 10 a.m. at the railway station in the heart of the city, killing one person and wounding another.

After an hour, by which time Modi had reached Patna but not the rally ground, four explosions took place inside the Gandhi Maidan, and two around it that caused a lot of panic.

The Patna railway station is located two-three km from the Gandhi Maidan.