Sodium pentothal is a rapid-onset short-acting barbiturate. Put simply, it is a so-called truth serum and melts the resolve of a consumer to resist interrogation. A year after the 7/11 Mumbai train Blasts that killed 187 and maimed another 817, investigations remain based only on narco-analysis of the accused, with hardly any corroboration on the ground.
Consider these unanswered questions. What is the real identity of the serial blasts bombers? Who provided the RDX, ammonium nitrate and detonators for the train blasts? What is the common linkage between the arrested LeT cadre and SIMI members? Where were the pressure cookers in which the explosives were kept purchased? What are the international linkages to the serial blasts?
The voluminous charge sheet filed by Mumbai’s anti-terrorist squad last November holds few answers to any of these questions. It lists at least eight accused as Pakistanis with only first names and without addresses or other details. The main accused, Faisal Sheikh, his brother Muzamil, Sohail Sheikh and Tanveer Ansari did train in Pakistan during 2002-2004 under the tutelage of Lashkar’s planner and accused, Azam Cheema, and the Mumbai cadres were in touch with him. But investigators are still to crack the whole terrorist operation, including the involvement of SIMI general secretary Ehtesham Siddiqui, who did not go to Pakistan or train in the handling of explosives.
The Mumbai explosions are part of a larger narrative, including the blasts at Varanasi, New Delhi and Hyderabad. Each of these remains unsolved, and yet the UPA Government appears satisfied with the perfunctory charge sheets filed. To date, there is no clarity on who actually targeted Varanasi’s Sankat Mochan temple, Delhi’s Sarojini Nagar market, Samjhauta Express near Panipat, Malegoan’s masjid or Hyderabad’s Mecca Masjid. Contrast this with the speed with which the conspiracies behind the 7/7 London bombings and the recent failed attack in Glasgow were uncovered.
