Malegaon, Sept 9 (ZEENEWS.COM) Investigators on Saturday sifted through evidence and followed up leads to trace those responsible for multiple bomb blasts that killed 31 people and injured nearly 300 in this powerloom town, which remained peaceful as grieving kin buried the dead.

With no reports of untoward incidents, the authorities this morning lifted the curfew that was imposed soon after the yesterday`s explosions, and people in the predominantly Muslim town thronged mosques to offer prayers.

Sonia Gandhi, Patil and Deshmukh visit the injured

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh visited the injured in hospital as well as the blast sites. Gandhi urged the people to maintain communal harmony, saying the attacks were aimed at "creating a divide in the society".

Special investigation team constituted

A 10-member special investigation team will work with police in Nashik and the Mumbai-based Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) to probe the blasts, said Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil. He also announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh for information leading to the attackers.

Authorities had yesterday put the death toll at 38, but Patil revised it to 31, saying the earlier figure had included persons killed in different incidents.

Personnel from the ATS and National Security Guard joined forensic experts from Mumbai and Nashik to collect evidence from the Noorani Mosque, a nearby graveyard and the busy Mushaira Chowk, the three spots where the explosions occurred.

P K Jain, the Special Inspector General (Nashik range), said, "there are certain leads we are trying to follow. Apparently, some bicycles (used in the attacks) have been recovered. What kind of explosives were used...Will be clear after the lab reports come in."

The burial of most of the dead, including 10 children, was completed by this morning but five bodies still remained unclaimed at hospitals, officials said.

Police and paramilitary forces, rushed to Malegaon after the blasts, kept a strict vigil at a large number of checkpoints and patrolled communally sensitive areas.

Ill-equipped hospitals

The town`s ill-equipped hospitals, however, struggled to cope with patients due to their inadequate facilities and the absence of specialists to treat traumatised children injured in the blasts. Officials said as many as 146 children were among the injured.

The blast victims were being treated at three hospitals - two municipal and one private.

At the municipal hospitals - Wadia Hospital and Satrana Road Hospital - authorities had to request the victims` relatives to procure medicines on their own as the hospitals were facing a shortage.

At the private Farhan Hospital, where 41 persons were undergoing treatment, the local physicians had to chip in with medicines and other necessary items.

Farhan Hospital authorities complained that they have not got any help from the government to cope with the situation.

The hospital has sent 17 patients, who were in a critical condition, to Dhule Municipal Hospital.

As regarding the blood supply, authorities said that currently they have enough blood bottles.

Four families refuse compensation

There was also anger among the kin of the dead, four of whom refused to accept the compensation of Rs 1 lakh provided by the state government, saying it was too little. At a press conference addressed by Sonia Gandhi, Shivraj Patil and Deshmukh, they complained the authorities were not doing enough to improve Malegaon`s crumbling health infrastructure as the town had a Muslim-majority population.

Gandhi told the people their assumption was "wrong" and instructed Deshmukh to take steps to set up a new hospital.

Maharashtra police chief P S Pasricha said the probe into the blasts was "proceeding on the correct path" but refused to give details. Some black powder found at the blast sites had been sent for forensic tests.

He said it would be "premature" to say anything about those behind for the attacks.

Rs 1 lakh announced

Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil announced a compensation of Rs 1 lakh for the next of the kin of the dead and declared the government`s determination to deal sternly with those involved in such incidents.