Maharashtra ATS rubbishes 'suicide bomber' theory

The investigation into the three bomb blasts in Mumbai is getting messy, with the Maharashtra Anti Terrorist Squad rubbishing the theory of a "suicide bomber". 

A source in ATS said, "All the dead bodies have been identified and there is no body lying unclaimed as reported by the media on Thursday."

Union Home Secretary RK Singh had told the media on Thursday that "the director general of the National Security Guard has informed that a body with circuit (wires wrapped around it) has been found near one of the explosion sites. We are not ruling out anything." Surprisingly, it was none other than the home secretary who had said that a "wired body" was found at the bomb site.

Singh could have checked the information with the ATS before announcing such an important pointer. The National Investigation Agency is the brainchild of Home Minister P Chidambaram, and is supposed to investigate all terror-related cases in India. But, the way the investigation into the Mumbai blasts has been done so far, it seems that the sensible idea of a centralised investigation remains a half-baked one in practice.

An ATS source told rediff.com, "How will a person walk into Zaveri Bazaar or such a place with wires tied to his body? We believe the first priority is to crack the case. And, for that, one needs patience."

A New Delhi-based daily reported on Friday, quoting a Mumbai ATS source, that the investigations into the blasts case is 'a virtual circus with various agencies vying with each other to be in the limelight' and that they are conducting parallel investigations.