INDORE, MARCH 11: The revelation by investigators that material used in making the firebombs that triggered the Samjhauta Express blaze was purchased from Indore has put the Madhya Pradesh Police in denial.

Investigations by a Haryana Police team have brought to light that the suitcases and their covers were purchased from a shop in Kothari market here. A tailor told investigators that the handwriting on the suitcases was his and the covers were stitched for Apollo 600 model suitcases manufactured in Delhi. But, despite several rounds of questioning, the shopkeeper and tailor were unable to identify the purchasers. They also could not identify any of the sketches shown to them.

The manufacturer of ‘Saurav Super’ brand of lunch boxes, a few of which were recovered from the blast site, told investigators that his products were available only in and around Indore. The Haryana Police team also questioned an engineer who sells electrical circuits. He, however, denied having sold to any outsiders, saying his circuits are used mostly in toys.

The MP Police, in fact, believe the bombs could not have been assembled in the state, as the one recovered from the train was wrapped in an Aligarh edition of a Hindi newspaper. But, DIG Rajesh Mishra, who is camping in Indore with a Haryana Police team, told The Indian Express on Sunday: “The Indore connection is being actively investigated. Why are we be sitting here if we were not making any progress?”

Asked another senior officer, “We don’t deny the sale of suitcases, covers and plastic boxes from Indore. We are cooperating with the investigators. But why haven’t the Haryana Police made any breakthrough in Aligarh where the bombs seem to have been assembled.” He also alleged Uttar Pradesh Police had refused to cooperate.

Officers in the MP Police said there was little possibility of SIMI being behind the blasts. “The banned outfit has nothing to gain from it,” the officer said. According to him, the Haryana team will leave Indore in a couple of days, after which the MP Police will come out with their case.

SIMI in Madhya Pradesh

• SIMI was banned in September 2001. The outfit is still active in the Malwa region

• Before being banned, SIMI was headquartered in Ujjain, the hometown of its general secretary Safdar Nagauri. Cases are registered against it in the region and in Jabalpur, Seoni and Burhanpur

• After the Mumbai blasts, nine activists from Indore were held when they succeeded in meeting a jailed activist by bribing cops who were taking him for a court hearing. Some are still in jail

• MP Police argue that SIMI has not carried out any blasts in the state nor has RDX ever been seized here