The Union government should allow the State governments to enact their own laws to deal with manufacture, possession, transport and use of explosives, and set up an explosives control bureau with an intelligence wing on a par with the Narcotics Control Bureau, noted forensic expert P. Chandrasekaran has said, reacting to the bomb blasts on a train in the Chennai Central.
The scientist, Mr. Chandrasekaran, former director of the Forensic Department in the State, wanted the police to use explosive detectors instead of metal detectors.
He said that even in the laws dealing with procurement of explosives, there were lacunae, as tracking the procurement of explosives rested with the Controller of Explosives in Nagpur. The Controller is governed by rules of the Explosive Substances Act, 1908. This law largely looked into factors pertaining to the prevention of crimes, unlawful and malicious act.
“The controller has very meagre staff and is suffering from lack of intelligence inputs. He comes into the picture only after an incident takes place,” explained Dr Chandrasekaran, who had made many investigative breakthroughs, including those in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
He said even the Explosives Act, 1884 had became obsolete. “In countries such as the U.S., mayors of cities were entitled to chalking out their own laws with regard to explosives. Records of each individual transporting explosive material are maintained and even his fingerprints are kept,” he said.
If a person involved in ordinary quarrying had procured explosives more than his regular requirement, the information should be collected for reference.
