First clue in Varanasi: cell that got only two calls,both from Mumbai

However,agencies are said to have got the shopowner to accompany them on raids at “certain places.”

An official said they came across the number while studying cellphone traffic in the Dasashwamedh Ghat area immediately before and after the blast at Sheetla Ghat,which is next to Dasashwamedh Ghat.

They found that the number had been used only for receiving two calls,the first on December 6 and the second on December 7,and after that there was no activity. In fact,the phone went dead after the blast.

On checking,investigators found that the first call had come from a PCO in Mumbai’s Bhindi Bazar around 7.00 pm,and the second from a PCO near Mumbai Central railway station.

The SIM card had been bought from a shop in the Kopaganj Market of Mau on December 1 by one Vijay Kumar,using an APL card as proof of address and identity. The card was found fake,and so was the address.

Investigators went around the area with the photo on the application and the card,hoping somebody would recognise it but hit a wall.

Local police and the UP ATS declined to comment but sources said investigators had taken Vishram Dayal,who runs the mobilephone and accessory shop in Kopaganj Market,to accompany him on raids a few days ago.

His wife Subhawati Devi said: “My husband left home four days back,saying he had some important work outside. He did not say where he was going,but he calls me every other day,says he is all right and will come back in a few days.” Each time,he calls from a different number.

She also said that the police had come to her husband’s shop about 15 days ago and had taken him away for questioning. She had no idea why the police visited the shop of if there was a connection between the police visit and the “work” for which her husband had gone away .

Subhawati said that Dayal had been running the shop for over 10 years,but this was the first time the police had visited him. His son Shivaji,who is married,lives in the same neighbourhood and owns a cellphone shop in Ballia city. He denied having any information about the police visiting his father’s shop.