Bhagalpur blast: Key suspect surrenders in court

A key accused in the case of last week’s blast in Bihar’s Bhagalpur, which left 15 people dead, surrendered before a local court on Monday and was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days, police said.

A key accused in the case of last week’s blast in Bihar’s Bhagalpur, which left 15 people dead, surrendered before a local court on Monday and was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days, police said.

At the site of the explosion in Bhagalpur. (ANI)

The man, Mohammad Azad Malik, is the owner of the house in the densely populated Kajwalichak locality of Bhagalpur town where the high-impact blast took place on March 3.

Malik came under police scanner after investigations revealed he had purchased the house of one Lilawati, in which she lived in one part along with her family as a rent while he used the second part to run his iron grille manufacturing unit.

After the blast, Malik had gone missing while Lilawati, also an accused, had died in the blast.

While the blast was initially thought to have occurred due to illegal manufacturing of firecrackers in the house, recovery of iron nails and other explosives from the site pointed to bomb making, police said, adding that they were looking into Malik’s possible connections with explosives smugglers in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.

“The special investigation team (SIT) will visit adjoining states after it gets some important lead in the case,” said additional director general of police (headquarters) Jitendra Singh Gangwar.

Bhagalpur’s senior superintendent of police (SSP) Babu Ram said Malik surrendered around 11am. “Police had not only been raiding his hideouts but had also visited his in-laws’ house in Muzaffarpur,” he said, adding that police would seek his remand on Tuesday for further interrogation.

Earlier, police had arrested Navin Mandal alias Navin Atishbaaj, who was injured in the blast and is undergoing treatment at a Bhagalpur hospital along with two others. Mandal’s both legs sustained injuries in the blast.