A close relative of a detained former lawmaker had supplied 15 grenades to Huji boss Mufti Abdul Hannan before the August 21 blasts at an Awami League (AL) rally in 2004.
A source said Harakat ul-Jihad-I-Islami (Huji) operations commander Hannan and other detained operatives of the banned Islamist outfit have told the interrogators that the grenades had been handed over at a house in the city's Mohammadpur area.
However, the source did not disclose the names of the supplier and the former lawmaker for the sake of a fair investigation.
Meanwhile, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) which is preparing to submit charge sheet in the August 21 case has yet to find signs that bullets were fired at the bullet-proof sports utility vehicle (SUV) that AL President Sheikh Hasina boarded immediately after the grenade attack.
It would once again examine the car before submitting charge sheet.
A number of detained militants including Hannan gave statements confessing to staging the blasts on Bangabandhu Avenue with intent to kill Hasina, but none of them has admitted shooting at her four-wheel drive, said CID sources.
“We are yet to be sure whether bullets were fired on that day. We haven't yet found any evidence that any firearm was used. We learnt the matter from newspapers and now we are looking into it,” CID Chief Additional Inspector General Foni Bhushan Chowdhury told a private television channel yesterday.
“Had the car been examined at that time, some evidence would have been found. But that did not happen,” he said adding that the CID experts would examine the SUV before submitting the charge sheet.
He said they would also talk to the detained former premier as a witness to the grisly crime that left 24 AL leaders and workers dead and scores injured.
Earlier, an expert team from Interpol had examined the car.