Poor placing of bombs saved Lord Buddha’s
statute
The Times of
India Deeptiman Tiwary 2013-07-10
July 09 -- NEW DELHI:
The sacred Lord Buddha statue in the
Mahabodhi Temple
complex in Gaya could have been
badly damaged had the terrorists been more judicious in placing the
bomb. However, they placed the bomb meant for the statue so close
to another that explosion in one broke the other's clock rendering
it useless. Two other bombs too followed the same fate because of
their proximity to rest of the explosives.
Perpetrators of the attack had
used 'Lotus' brand analogue clocks as timer device in the 13
cylinder bombs placed in and around the temple
complex.
It was earlier suspected
that moisture seeping into explosives may have rendered the bombs
useless. However, investigations by National Security Guard (NSG)
bomb experts revealed that each of the three bombs had been placed
at a short distance away from another bomb. As they were timed for
explosion later, other bombs exploded first. The impact broke their
clocks and the circuit was terminated, said a senior NSG
officer.
Police had recovered one
exploded bomb from the Terega Monastery, another was found near the
80-foot Budha statue in the shrine complex, while the third was
placed at Rampur Road junction on route to the temple. All were
accompanied by one more bomb at a short distance
away.
Investigations have revealed
that all the 13 bombs contained a mixture of ammonium nitrate and
sulphur and potassium emulsion. The mixture was packed with
shrapnel and ball bearings and then stuffed in 2-kg LPG gas
cylinders by drilling holes into them. The circuit was completed
using analogue clocks and detonators.
The circuit was also found to
have similarities with bombs found in 2008 Ahmedabad, Jaipur (2006)
and Pune (2012) blasts. All these blasts were carried out by Indian
Mujahideen (IM). However, in none of these blasts cylinders were
used. This is the first time. So it's difficult to say if it's a
signature of any particular group, said another NSG
officer.
Interestingly, the quantity of
ammonium nitrate was very less — only around 150-200 gm in each
bomb. In February Hyderabad blasts, 400-700 gm of ammonium nitrate
had been used. The blasts had killed 16 people.
The use of these new kind of
bombs has also opened the investigations with various groups being
probed. Although IM had earlier spoken about Bodh Gaya being a
target, we as yet do not have any evidence or material indication
that the group is involved, said an officer part of the
investigation team.
Investigations have also
revealed that there may not be any larger motive behind the
discovery from blast sites of papers with 'Bada But' and 'Iraq War'
written on them. Bada But was scribbled as direction for where to
keep the bomb. 'Iraq war' was printed on a pamphlet whose blank
back was used for another direction. Both bombs were placed as
directed, said an NIA officer.