Indian police make sketches of bomb blast suspects

By Sharat Pradhan

VARANASI, India (Reuters) – Indian police released sketches
on Thursday of two men wanted in connection with bomb blasts
that killed 15 people in one of Hinduism’s holiest cities, an
attack claimed by Kashmiri separatists.

Lashkar-e-Kahar (Army of Fury), a previously unknown
Islamist group fighting Indian rule in Kashmir, said it was
responsible for Tuesday’s twin bomb blasts in Varanasi city and
vowed to carry out more attacks if New Delhi did not “stop
excesses” in the revolt-torn region.

The sketches were of two men who placed a bag containing a
bomb outside a shop in Varanasi and were based on the
description of the shopkeeper, Varanasi’s police chief, Navneet
Sikera, told a news conference.

That bomb was detected before it was set off and defused.

Two other bombs exploded — at an ancient Hindu temple and
at the main railway station — killing 15 and wounding dozens,
many of them devotees and people who had come to attend three
weddings at the sprawling temple complex.

“From their looks and physique they seemed to be Kashmiris
and were in their late twenties according to the shopkeeper.
They were speaking Hindi with some difficulty,” Sikera said,
referring to the two suspects.

He said the entire operation in the city may have involved
four or five men.

“We have a lot of information. We may take some time but we
will be successful. We will find out who was behind this and
what their aim was,” Sikera said.

Hours earlier, the militant group called a local news
agency in Indian Kashmir and claimed responsibility for the
explosions.

“If India does not stop excesses in Kashmir, we will carry
out more such attacks across India,” Abdullah Jabbar, claiming
to be Lashkar-e-Kahar’s spokesman, said by telephone.

Security experts said the group was likely a front for
Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (Army of
the Pure), which is also on top of the police list of suspects.

But Lashkar-e-Taiba sources in Pakistan denied links with
Lashkar-e-Kahar and said it could be an Indian militant outfit.

CITY STANDS RESOLUTE

Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is outlawed in Pakistan and is
fighting Indian rule in disputed Kashmir, has been blamed for
many violent attacks across India in the past.

Reports of progress by the police came as Varanasi
reinforced its standing as one of India’s most vibrant
pilgrimage centers.

Markets across the holy city opened, streets bustled with
traffic and tourists, Indian and foreign, returned to the
ancient bathing ghats and temples by the holy Ganges river a
day after Hindu groups shut the city in protests.

Police said they would continue to mount vigils to prevent
any backlash against local Muslims although, they added, that
appeared unlikely.

“Violence occurs when there is anger,” said Mahendra Tanna,
a Varanasi businessman. “The blasts at the temple did not anger
us but made us sad. Which is why there have been no riots.

“How can we associate all this with Muslims? All Muslims
are not bad and all Hindus are not good,” said Tanna, a Hindu.

Temple-studded Varanasi, 670 km (420 miles) southeast of
New Delhi, is one of India’s most ancient cities and popular
with foreign tourists interested in Hinduism.

Hindus believe that dying in Varanasi, being cremated on
the banks of the Ganges and the ashes immersed in the river
ensures release from the cycle of rebirth.

Analysts and intelligence officers said that although the
Hindu community was targeted by suspected Islamist militants,
they did not expect trouble because most Indians were weary of
violence and increasingly resilient.

Besides, political groups had largely refrained from
stoking tensions and Varanasi’s Muslims had condemned the
blasts and joined Hindus in a general strike on Wednesday,
avoiding a confrontation, they said.

“We are grateful to the people that they have not allowed
this situation to take a communal turn,” said Yashpal Singh,
police chief of Uttar Pradesh state where Varanasi is located.

“It is thanks also to the political parties as none of them
tried to give this political color,” Singh told Reuters.

(Additional reporting by Sheikh Mushtaq in Srinagar)