Sketch of Assam blast suspect released

Guwahati, Nov 4 (PTI) Police Tuesday released the sketch
of a suspect in the Thursday's serial blasts in Assam that
claimed 81 lives.

Police said the sketch tallied 77 percent with the
person suspected to be responsible for 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 C.J.M. Court who saw the person suspiciously
moving around the compound, the sources said.

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

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

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 percent tally of drawings with a suspect would help the
investigators zero in on their target. PTI E.S.B.
RKM