October 27: Smoke rises after serial bomb blasts at the venue of Narendra Modi's rally in Patna (PTI photo)
Investigators handling the case of last month's serial blasts in Patna in which six people were killed say they want to interrogate a former police officer about possible links to the terror attack.
However, they say, his house is locked up and he appears to be traveling abroad. He left a few days before the blasts.
The police officer, Imraan Hasan, held the senior post of Deputy Superintendent in the Jharkhand Police; he retired two years ago.
Nearly 80 people were injured in addition to the six men who were killed in the blasts in Patna on October 27, when the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, held a massive rally in the heart of Patna.
The National Investigating Agency, which is working with the Bihar Police on the case, believes that attack was executed by a new branch of the banner Indian Mujahideen in neighbouring Jharkhand.
Crucial information has been culled from the interrogation of one of the alleged bombers who was caught while running away from the Patna train station, where the first of eight explosions in the city took place.
He has alleged that senior commanders of the Mujahideen visited the home of Imraan Hassan, the former cop. Tehseen Akhtar, who is allegedly running the Mujahideen, and Haider Ali, who reportedly coordinated the Patna terror attack, met at this house, say investigators, based on their interrogation of suspects who have been arrested.