Chennai train blasts probe still in the dark

More than a month on, investigators are yet to make a breakthrough in the Chennai train blasts case. The latest probe angle surrounding SIMI’s Haider Ali isn’t very definitive as well, reports Vicky Nanjappa.

The Chennai train blasts are turning out to be one of the biggest unsolved mysteries. After exhausting all possible links, the special probe team or the CBCID is now looking to question Haider Ali alias ‘Black Beauty’ of the Students Islamic Movement of India in connection with this case.

“It is not a definitive lead but we are exploring the possibility,” says an officer associated with the probe.

Two low-intensity bombs exploded on the early hours of May 1 in a Guwahati-bound train from Bangalore arriving at the Chennai Central railway station, killing a woman passenger and injuring at least 14 others.

Since the incident occurred, the police have explored all possible angles to the blast. They first looked at the Al Ummah angle and then went after the Indian Mujahideen.

After this they even questioned Hussain, the Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence operative from Colombo.

Now they are trying to find out if the SIMI was behind this attack.

The Haider Ali angle looks like a difficult one since there is a big question about his identity in this case. Ali, who was recently arrested by the National Investigation Agency, was the same one who plotted the Patna blasts.

However, there is also another Haider Ali who was part of the Al-Ummah in the early 1990s. The police will have to first sort out this confusion before they could proceed.

As per the information available the two persons are completely different.

While the police continue to explore all options, they are still confident that this was a job undertaken by the Al-Ummah. This is an outfit that is strong both in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

The blast outside the BJP office in Bangalore in 2013 only proved that the Al-Ummah is capable of operating in Karnataka as well. However, for the police what is proving to be difficult is that the main operatives of this outfit have all been arrested.

“It could well be some of the members who formed a splinter group and due to the lack of data base on these small time operatives, the probe is taking longer than expected,” the officer informed.

Image: A member of the bomb disposal squad examines the area next to the train in which two blasts occurred, at the Chennai railway station.

Photograph: Babu/Reuters