Probe agencies examine CCTV footage at blast site

A day after the blast took place between the Dashashwamedh and Shitla ghats which was teeming with devotees during the time of Ganga 'arti', police barricaded the site of the explosion and devotees were not allowed to take a dip in the river. The main entrance to the Shitla temple has been closed.

At other ghats, the number of visitors has reduced considerably, police said. BJP has called for a bandh and shops were closed but normal life in the city was unaffected.
ADM (city) Atal Kumar Rai said authorities are examining CCTV videos recorded at the site of the incident.

He said if people have come across any video footage or evidence regarding yesterday's blast, they should immediately give it to the authorities.Rai said a forensic team has come from Agra and has collected samples from the site of the explosion.

Sources said the team has found metals splinters even as the police carried out extensive checking of hotels examining their records relating to visitors.

Meanwhile, out of the 37 injured in the blast, one is said to be in a critical condition.
In Mumbai, a father-son duo were picked up for questioning in connection with the e-mail sent by banned terror group Indian Mujahideen to several media houses claiming responsibility for the Varanasi blast.

The terror mail was traced to a residential complex in Navi Mumbai. The five-page email sent by Indian Mujahideen has been sent using an unsecured WiFi of Airtel Broadband of the two, official sources said.

The two were questioned and later released, they said.Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjeev Dayal told PTI that the email has been traced to Navi Mumbai and the police of that area and Mumbai Police were coordinating to trace the culprits.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati visited Varanasi to take stock of the situation."On the basis of a report sent by senior officials, the Chief Minister reached Varanasi, visited both the ghats, took stock of the situation and inquired about the investigations and injured," they said.

Mayawati said the injured would be given free treatment at Lucknow besides financial assistance.A minor girl, who was probably separated from her parents during the stampede after the blast, was today found by the police.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram will be in Varanasi to take stock of the situation, the sources said, adding he is also likely to meet the kin of the girl killed in the blast and the injured.

A high alert had been sounded across the state after the blast.SSB chief Lalit Kumar told PTI in Maharajganj that tight security arrangements have been made along the Indo-Nepal border in the wake of the Varanasi blast.

The SSB has installed close circuit cameras on important routes leading to Nepal.
Meanwhile, police sources said the low-intensity bomb used in the blast here did not have shrapnels in it and all the injured were hit by pieces of wall that broke following the explosion.

They said the bomb kept near the steps leading to the Dashashwamedh Ghat was placed in such a way that the maximum impact was directed to the ground where the 'arti' was being held yesterday evening.

Though the nature of explosives is yet to be ascertained, the sources said there were no burn or shrapnel injuries.An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was recovered from a metal dustbin at the site of the blast.

Banned terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM) has claimed responsibility for the blast in e-mails sent to media houses and said it "attributed" the attack to the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992.

The blast occurred at 6:20 PM when thousands of devotees and some foreign tourists had assembled at the ghat for the Ganga arti ritual.