Wednesday, July 6 2005 15:55 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Ayodhya: Well after 24 hours of the terrorist attack on the Ramjanambhoomi complex, the police are still groping in the dark and have not yet been able to establish the identity of the slain militants.

"Documents and other things seized from the possession of the slain militants are not sufficient enough to provide a clue about their organisation," State police chief Yashpal Singh told reporters in Ayodhya.

He said the driver of the jeep used in the attack, Rehan and another driver Rajkumar have also not provided any clue to the investigating agencies so as to establish their identities.

Rehan had said during interrogation that he was approached by the militants while he was filling fuel in his vehicle at a petrol pump in Faizabad.

The DGP, however, said that there were some contradictions in Rehan's statement and expressed confidence that his sustained interrogation could provide valuable clues.

He said that the second driver Rajkumar who had transported the militants in his Marshall jeep to Faizabad from Akbarpur, 70 kms from here, has also not revealed much.

When asked as to why the militants chose Akbarpur, he said they might have wanted to avoid getting down at Faizabad railway station where security was tight.

He admitted that given the kind of arms and ammunition recovered from the slain militants it was certain that they belonged to a very formidable terrorist outfit.

The attack was very well-planned and the attackers must have carefully studied the lay out of the area, he said.

The anti-tank grenades and rocket-launcher type of weapons recovered from them point out that there outfit was very resourceful, he said.

On being pressed upon for his comments on charges that the State Government had been tipped off by central intelligence agencies about a possible strike in Ayodhya, the DGP said the State Government had no "specific information".

"Information keeps coming and is considered regularly, but we had no specific information about terrorist strike," he said, adding there was no point in getting drawn into unnecessary controversies.

He also rejected the charge that he had directed the district administration to reduce security in the temple town.

"The district officials had urged me to review the security here and I told them that I will be putting their proposal before the Advisory Committee," he said.

On being pointed out that the post of SP (Security) was vacant for a long time in Ayodhya, the DGP said the moment he assumed charge of the State police he had appointed an officer to the post.

He also said that a Special Task Force team was camping in the temple town to ascertain the modus operandi of the slain militants and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) has also been urged to send officials to join the investigation.

"The investigation so far revealed that the attack was the result of a deep-rooted conspiracy," he said.