Police still clueless; probe on

The police have not yet arrested anyone involved in Saturday's explosion next to Kantaji Mandir of Dinajpur. Neither could they make any breakthrough in the investigation. 

The pieces of evidence collected from the scene in Kaharol upazila are being examined, said investigation officer Ahasanur Rahman Prodhan, adding he would not disclose anything for the sake of investigation.

He, however, confirmed that the explosive had not been thrown; it had been kept on the ground. A remote control might have been used to explode the bomb, said the sub-inspector of Kaharol police.

A bomb went off around 1:00am on Saturday when artistes were performing on stage at Volanath Opera Pandal set up as part of a month-long festival known as raaspurnima mela organised by the Hindu temple, said police and victims. The site was about 500 yards from the temple.

A circuit like mobile motherboard and an electric wire were found at the site following the blast, which might have been used in the explosion.

The probe is focused on two aspects -- whether it was an act of militants or a feud between the groups that participated in the bid for the mela led to the incident, the SI said without elaborating any further.

The local administration has asked the mela organisers to stop jatra and circuses. 

The turnout in the mela yesterday was about ten percent less than that before the blast, said Premnath Roy, executive member of Dinajpur Rajdebotar State Trust that runs the temple as well as is responsible for the mela arrangements. 

Meanwhile, the six victims admitted to Dinajpur Medical College Hospital have been recovering gradually, said the hospital's Assistant Director Mohammad Ali.

Three of them were operated on to bring out splinters, he added.