Investigations into last month’s terror attack on the Samjhauta Express which killed 68 people have finally yielded a breakthrough with the Haryana Police establishing that the material for the six timer-fitted firebombs was most probably purchased from Indore in Madhya Pradesh. A team of the Haryana Police has been camping in Indore for more than a week now.

Although investigators can’t conclusively establish where the bombs were assembled — a possible location, they say, could be western Uttar Pradesh given that the only recovered bomb was wrapped in a January 11, 2006, Aligarh edition of a Hindi newspaper — there is new evidence to show a strong Indore link.

Although IG (Indore) Rajendra Kumar told The Sunday Express that teams from Haryana are carrying out similar investigations in other cities across the country, official sources have confirmed the following findings:

• The 24-inch suitcases in which the six bombs were kept were manufactured in Delhi but the manufacturer has confirmed that sale in Delhi stopped six months ago. He told investigators that there was a distribution outlet in Indore among other cities. Police have already identified a dealer in Indore who is said to have sold the six suitcases to the bombers.

• The bottles in which petrol and rags were used for incendiary effect are manufactured in Mumbai but only distributed in Indore and Hyderabad. These bottles are available within half-a-kilometre of the Indore dealer.

• The lunch box in which the potassium nitrate explosive was kept was of “Saurav Super” brand that is only available in Indore.

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