Police recovered nine bombs — in sets of three — from a lodge in Hindpiri here late on Monday evening. Senior police officials said the bombs were similar to the ones that went off in Patna during the election rally of BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on October 27.
“Nine live bombs made by using metallic pipes similar to those used in the Patna blasts were recovered from a room in ‘Iram’ lodge in Hindpiri. We have recovered 19 detonators and 25 gelatin sticks. The bombs have been removed. The State police are investigating this with the National Investigation Agency,” said Jharkhand Director-General of Police Rajeev Kumar.
“The person staying in the room as a tenant is missing. Many rooms in the lodge are used by students preparing for competitive exams,” said Additional Director-General of Police Satya Narayan Pradhan. Mr. Pradhan had earlier said the timers used in the Patna blasts were of the same make and from the same lot as those used in the Bodh Gaya blasts in Bihar in July.
Of the six suspects, who the police say carried three bombs each in plastic bags on a bus from Ranchi to Patna on October 26, Imtiaz Ansari and Tariq were caught when a bomb allegedly carried by Tariq exploded in a toilet at the Patna railway station on October 27. Tariq, who according to his family members was below 20, succumbed to injuries in Patna on Friday while Imtiaz has been in detention in Patna. Imtiaz’s nephew Taufiq Ansari, who had completed class X a year back, lived in the same house as Imtiaz as part of a joint family. He and Noman Ansari, also a resident of Ranchi’s Seethio village, are missing since the blasts. Of two other suspects, Hydar Ali studied Intermediate in Arts from Doranda College, Ranchi, and had gone missing from home two years back. His father works as a tailor in Ranchi. Tehseen Akhtar, the sixth suspect, is a resident of Bihar and is also missing.
On October 28, the NIA detained Ojair Ahmad, who worked as an electrical contractor at the office of a local Hindi daily here and on October 30, the NIA arrested and produced him at the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court. The NIA then took him into transit remand.
On October 30, the day Ojair Ahmed was arrested, the Bihar police detained Arshad Ahmad, who runs a coaching institute in Ranchi from East Champaran district in Bihar in connection with his links to Imtiaz.
