The explosive material found at Mangaluru airport on Monday morning could be a low-intensity improvised explosive device (IED), said police officials, citing observations of the bomb detection and disposal squad that defused it successfully.
“The sand bags placed around the area where the controlled explosion was triggered did not get damaged. Going by this, it can be concluded that it was a low-intensity IED,” a police officer said. The remnants collected from the blast site were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory for a detailed chemical analysis to ascertain the type of explosive substances used.
The IED was recovered from a laptop bag. It contained a battery, wires, a timer, a switch, a detonator, and explosive material, but they were not connected properly, which, according to investigators, could be either a deliberate or foiled attempt.
“There are chances that it was deliberate, as a sort of threat message,” said the officer.
To be authenticated
Though Mangaluru police have released grabs of CCTV camera footage showing a suspect and the autorickshaw in which he was seen leaving, the investigating team is yet to ascertain the authenticity of the footage.
The CCTV camera footage does not show the suspect carrying the bag containing the explosive device and placing it outside the terminal building, said an officer.
The grabs of CCTV camera footage showing a suspect and the autorickshaw in which he was seen leaving were released by the Mangaluru police on Monday.
The police, however, are trying to identify a man who walked away from the airport corridors suspiciously. The police are also tracking down the autorickshaw driver who reportedly dropped the suspect at the airport.
Meanwhile, officials of the National Investigation Agency arrived in Mangaluru to supervise the probe.
The State police said that though they had received a general alert in the wake of the Republic Day, there was nothing specific either to Mangaluru or to the airport. The general alert mentioned stepping up of security in the backdrop of the ongoing anti-CAA protests, a senior police officer said.
Many theories doing the rounds
Multiple theories are doing the rounds on the possible motive behind planting an explosive device at Mangaluru airport on Monday.
One of them is that it could be a retaliation to the police firing incident during a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in which two persons were killed, said a senior police officer supervising the investigation. Another theory is that it could be a retaliation to the recent arrest of two terror suspects in Udupi, he said.
