Suspected Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is recovering from gunshot wounds in a hospital, went partying and may have even worked out in his college gym after carrying out the deadly attack.
The 19-year-old looked relaxed — just like the “Jahar of old” — his friends and college mates said in media interviews. He didn't look like he was on the run.
Multiple US agencies are waiting to question him but Dzhokhar is in no “condition to communicate”, officials said Sunday. He has a gunshot wound in the neck.
Dzhokhar was at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, every day after the April 15 bombings till April 18, when the FBI released his pictures and those of his elder brother, Tamerlan. The two were then only identified as suspects No 1 and 2. No names were given out.
The Boston Globe quoted a student of the university as saying she saw Dzhokhar at a college party. “He was just relaxed,” she said, refusing to be named.
University confirmed Dzhokhar was on the campus, and had accessed the gym and his room.
Before heading to the party, Dzhokhar tweeted, “I'm a stress-free kind of guy”, the New York Post reported.
By then a massive hunt was on for those responsible for the two explosions that killed three people and injured more than 170 at the finish line of the Boston marathon.
Investigators work around the boat where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found hiding after a massive manhunt. AFP
Early Friday, Tamerlan died in a shootout with law enforcement officials in Watertown, a community outside Boston.
Hours later, Dzhokhar was captured from a trailer boat parked in the backyard of a Watertown residence. He gave himself up after an exchange of gun fire with law enforcement officers.
“He was laid back. I would never expect this at all from him,” Sonia Ribeiro, who was in a philosophy class with Tsarnaev, told Fox News.
The Tsarnaevs are of Chechen origin, who came to the US from Kyrgzistan in 2002. Dzhokhar became a naturalised American on September 11, 2012.
A website used by Russia's North Caucasus rebels denied any link to the bombings. The Caucasus fighters were not waging any military activities against the US, the Kavkazcenter.com website said Sunday.
With agency inputs