22 February,2010 09:29 AM IST | | Kaumudi Gurjar
Autorickshaw drivers who were near blast site tell police what they saw, but top cop refuses to reveal if they have any leads. So, MiD DAY talks to a few drivers...
Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh has said that an appeal to autorickshaw drivers who ferried passengers in the Koregaon Park area around the time of the blast on the eve of Valentine's Day has generated a positive response.
Two days after the police appealed to auto drivers to share information on any suspicious people they might have picked up from or dropped at Koregaon Park between 5 pm and 7 pm on February 13, Singh yesterday said, "We have received a good response from autorickshaw drivers."
But Singh refused to divulge any more details on whether the information shared by the drivers might lead them to those who planted the German Bakery bomb.
An autorickshaw driver who was present at the time of blast and took many injured people to the Inlacs Budrani Hospital confirmed the police had made inquiries with automen in Koregaon Park at the time of the blast.
All the auto drivers spoke on condition of anonymity.
One auto driver said the police showed him CCTV footage, but there was nothing that he could point out. The driver said, "I was so frightened after the explosion that I took shelter in the nearest hotel. The sight of dead bodies made me sick and I left the spotu00a0 soon after the blast."
Another driver, who ferried an Italian woman after she had shopped in Lane Number 5, also said the police had made inquiries with him and showed him CCTV clips. He, too, said there was nothing in the footage that he found suspicious. He said, "There were seven or eight rickshaw drivers when the blast occurred; some of them may have shared some information."
