Chennai blasts probe: Clean chit to suspects; no fresh leads

The suspect in the Chennai railway station blasts case, a man captured on the CCTV, has been given a clean chit by the probe authorities. The man was traced down to Sri Lanka where he is on vacation.

The CB-CID, which is probing the case, said that the man in the CCTV foo‎tage had come out of the train moments before the blasts and was seen making a hurried exit. This man, belonging to Kerala, had boarded the Bangalore-Guwahati express and from Chennai was to leave for Sri Lanka on a vacation.

The police prepared sketches of this man and had pasted in important locations. The man, however, called the Chennai cops on seeing his hazy images being flashed on television. He was asked several questions and he said he had rushed out only because he was running late to catch his flight to Sri Lanka. 

CB-CID Deputy Superintendent of Police Venkatraman S informed that his replies were convincing and he is no longer being treated as a suspect.

The police officer informed that the other suspect, who was questioned too, has also been given a clean chit. This suspect was seen with a tablet near his face.

The police at first thought that he was intentionally hiding his face from the camera but later it was found that he was speaking on the tablet, ‎Venkatraman S said.

The probe is now back to square one and all the investigators are still clueless. There is a great deal that the officers are yet to find out. They are still not sure from where the bomb was loaded.

The organisation behind it is also unknown and the police are basing a lot of facts on the bomb signature. There are similarities to the Patna bombs, but that is hardly even a strong point for the police to come to any conclusion.

The police have also requested the help of their counterparts in Madhya Pradesh to try and ascertain if some splinter group of the Students Islamic Movement of India coordinated with the modules in Bangalore and Kerala to undertake this attack.

Image: CCTV footage zeroed-in on a man who has now been given a clean chit by the probe authorities