The Hindu : Front Page : Blast triggered by suspected IED rocks collectorate

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 11, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Front Page

Front Page

Blast triggered by suspected IED rocks collectorate

Staff Reporter

No major casualty in the explosion that occurred during office hours

Dog and bomb squad pressed into investigation
Specimen from scene sent for chemical analysis

KOCHI: An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) went off on the fifth floor of the Ernakulam collectorate at Kakkanad near here on Friday afternoon triggering panic across the city.

An employee suffered a minor injury in the abdomen. There were no casualties in the explosion that occurred at a time when the collectorate was live with hundreds of employees and visitors.

A few persons including two employees of the Collectrate were interrogated by the investigating agencies in connection with the blast. However, no arrests have been made.

Senior officials of the Intelligence Bureau, Research and Analysis Wing and State Special Branch have launched investigations into the incident, police officials said.

The nitrate-based IED was set in a pipe and was detonated using a timer and detonator, confirmed experts and officials of the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad who visited the site. The timer could not be recovered as it was suspected to have blown off completely in the impact of the explosion, while parts of the detonator had been recovered, it is learnt.

The incident occurred at 3 p.m. Some unidentified substance in a sack filled with wastepaper and similar throwaway items placed on the right hand corner of the flight of stairs ending on the fifth floor blew off with a loud sound.

The source of the high-decibel sound was not immediately known, as panic-stricken employees rushed out of the office. Jaffer, an employee with the Resurvey Department functioning on the fifth floor, was about to take the staircase when the explosion occurred.

“It was a deafening sound. I didn’t understand anything and just ran for my life,” he told The Hindu on returning from hospital after receiving first aid.

The police and Fire and Rescue Services personnel rushed to the scene.

The dog and the bomb detection and disposal squads were also pressed into service. Plaster from the sidewalls and the roof that peeled off under the impact of the explosion was found scattered on the scene.

A police team led by Deputy Commissioner of Police P. Prakash; P.M. Varghese, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Thrikkakara; and Shamsu Illikkal, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Special Branch; closely examined a sticky substance found on the walls. It smelt like gunpowder used in firecrackers. The City Police Commissioner Manoj Abraham, who rushed to the scene, said, “According to some people, it sounded like a huge explosion, but the scene suggests that the impact was less.” Mr. Abraham said neither the condition of the floor nor the path of projectile suggested a high-intensity explosion.

Mr. Abraham said the scene of explosion reeked of an odour of some kind of an oil. Forensic experts and the Controller of Explosives are also involved in the investigations, he said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page