Guwahati, Nov 04: Five days after the Assam serial blasts that claimed 84 lives, Police on Tuesday released the sketch of a suspect and five more sketches of persons who could be involved are being prepared and will be released soon.

Police said the sketch “tallied 77 per cent” with the descriptions provided to the artist by the witnesses and the person is suspected to be behind the explosion at the Deputy Commissioner’s office compound in Kamrup where the Chief judicial magistrate’s court is also located.

The person, dressed in a white kurta, was said to be of fair complexion with short hair and a thin moustache.

The sketch was prepared on the basis of inputs from five witnesses in the CJM Court who saw the person suspiciously moving around the compound, police sources said.

Special artists from Kolkata were called to prepare the sketch with the help of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Assam police.

Five more sketches of other suspects are being prepared which will be released soon, the sources said.

Police have arrested five people so far and are interrogating them to get leads on those behind the 13 multiple explosions that rocked the North-Eastern state on Thursday.

A little-known group–the Islamic Security Force (Indian Mujahadeen)–has claimed responsibility for the blasts. An eye-witness Pradip Konwar had called up a news channel that he wanted to help the police prepare a sketch of the suspect.

His assistance was taken for preparing the sketch, the sources said.

Another witness told the channel that on Thursday prior to the blasts he saw two persons dressed in ‘kurta-pyjama’ enter the nearby Planetarium. Later, while one went towards its parking lot, the other came and sat with him.

On being asked from where he hailed, the suspected person replied that he belonged to Dhubri district of the state.

The witness said he went out for a while and upon his return, he saw the person looking very agitated and moving continuously in the compound and then disappeared.

The police said they could not immediately say whether the suspect in the sketch was involved in the bomb blast, but a 77 per cent tally of drawings with a suspect would help the investigators zero in on their target.

Cautious steps towards normal life

The city took cautious steps towards normalcy today since the serial blasts that claimed 84 lives in Assam with chhath puja being held amidst tight security and schools, colleges and educational institutions reopening.

Chhath puja was held amidst tight security at Sukleswar Ghat, while the celebrations at the other popular venue Kachari Ghat near the deputy commissioner’s office was cancelled following the blasts there, official sources said.

The celebrations was subdued with playing of songs over loudspeakers and other forms of entertainment being cancelled.

Parents accompanied children to bus stops and their schools though attendance in most of them was below normal.

Classes were also held in different colleges and Guwahati University but there too the attendance was thin.

Attendance in offices, banks and business establishments was normal with condolence meetings held in most offices.

Silent processions and prayer meetings continued for the fourth day since the October 30 blasts. Lawyers took out a procession during the day to protest against the killing of several of their colleagues in the explosion near the chief Judicial Magistrate’s court.

A prayer meeting at the Baptist church, community prayers, candle light vigil and signature campaigns exhorting maintenance of peace are being held in different parts of the state.

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