The Hindu : Taxi driver might provide the first clue

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 26, 2003

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National

Taxi driver might provide the first clue

By Mahesh Vijapurkar

MUMBAI AUG. 25. The main — and possibly the first clue — as to who placed the explosives in the taxis that were later blasted will have to come from the driver of one of the two vehicles. The police have taken him into custody but have refused to identify him.

The driver walked back to the site in front of the Taj Hotel and the Gateway of India asking "what has happened to my taxi," highly-placed sources told The Hindu. He was "both shocked and almost in tears" and could not believe that his vehicle had been reduced to twisted metal.He was apparently told by his passengers to wait as "it would be some hours" before they returned. He left the taxi for having tea and returned on hearing the blast.

The taxi in which the bomb was planted in Jhaveri Bazaar was also on hire. It was apparently occupied by a driver and another person and it was also parked on the roadside. It is presumed that the headless body found near was that of the driver and the licence may help identity him. A source said that the drivers may have been unwittingly trapped as one returned to the blast site near the Gateway of India and the other might have been inside the car the Jhaveri Bazaar.

However, investigators do not want to take it at face value. They have been told that the practice among taxi drivers is not to allow anyone to leave anything behind in the car.

This is the first time that taxis have been used in a blast.

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