Could be a local criminal or a mad man, not terrorist

Fri, May 9 01:05 AM

The nagging, low-power blasts in south Delhi could be the handiwork of a local criminal, a miscreant or even a mad man, but police have decisively ruled out any terrorist hand in the series of explosions. "Terrorists would surely not risk trying out the impact of indigenously made, crude explosives in the national capital," said a police officer on condition of anonymity.

Another point the police said with conviction was that the same man, or possibly a group, carried out the blasts over the last few months. The place of attack, targets and nature of explosion indicate a common modus operandi, said the officer.

"The most important thing to be seen is that the blasts have taken place on a single stretch, between IIT flyover and Andheria More," said an officer. Whatever the impact of the explosion, the nature of the explosive has been the same in almost all the incidents- a pack of nails wrapped in a crude, makeshift explosive.

"The attacker seems to be someone who has a working knowledge of explosives and their triggers. He just wraps the explosive with nails that dart in the air and injure people in the vicinity.

The impact has also created a crater on the road in a few cases," said the officer. Police now even suspect the hand of a local firecracker manufacturer, considering the low-grade nature of explosives used to trigger the blast.

They have now summoned all local manufacturers to find out leads. Police have managed to make some sense of the blast so far but the motive still eludes them.

Why would someone risk being caught for planting explosives that apparently are not aimed at causing any serious damage? "It beats me. The attacker is courting trouble for no plausible reason.

The blasts have, at best, slightly injured people and damaged some cars," said the officer.

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