While tracking these phone numbers, DCB officers discovered that most sets had stopped functioning after the Ahmedabad blasts but one number was being used in Delhi. “While most numbers were non-functional since the night of July 26, three were used from different locations in the state until July 30. One of the numbers, however, was being used in the Hazrat Nizamuddin area in Delhi until August 5. We suspect that the mobile phone was being used by someone on our most wanted list,” the officer said.

Sources said an Ahmedabad police team was even sent to Delhi to try and investigate “the lead”. When contacted for details, Ashish Bhatia, Joint Commissioner of Police, DCB, declined comment: “These are operational secrets.”