NEW DELHI: Thirty-nine days, two explosions in the same area and white residue at both spots — city police and agencies are flummoxed with these mysterious blasts occurring in quick succession. The agencies are wondering if these were a dry run for a bigger, deadlier blast or whether someone was indulging in mischief and scaremongering or perhaps just someone ‘seeking revenge’ for some ‘injustice’.
Interestingly, the sites of the two blasts lie less than 2km of each other. Not just that, there are other eerie similarities too. There was a park and a school in the vicinity of both blasts. There was a wall where the device was placed and explosives used in both blasts appear to be identical. In the Oct blast, it appeared the white residue was of a chlorate-based chemical with hydrogen peroxide among the compounds used. The forensic team also suspected the use of benzene peroxide along with a small amount of ammonium nitrate. A final report is still awaited.
While the observations in Thursday’s blasts are similar, last time 5-6kg of chemicals might have been used with a bigger area affected and windowpanes of cars shattered, this time it is suspected 1.5-2kg was used because of the smaller radius of the area affected and the lower impact.
Delhi Police’s Special Cell is trying to analyse these common points between the twin blasts and trying to figure out if a cryptic message was being sent. “One thing seems clear. The perpetrators didn’t likely want mass casualties,” an officer said. “The timing of the blast in Oct and the location (under a tree, behind a wall) was such that it couldn’t have caused massive damage.”
In the Oct blast near the CRPF‘s school in Rohini, the agencies probed a range of theories, including mischief and a possible connection to former RAW agent Vikash Yadav.
“We tried to ascertain if that blast was carried out to send a message to Yadav, who is on the radar of Khalistani elements after being accused of plotting the assassination of US-based terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun,” disclosed an investigator. While the fact that CRPF was Yadav’s parent cadre before he was sent on deputation to the intelligence agency could be a reason for this line of investigation, the analysis of the post made on a Telegram channel linked to a Khalistani outfit also fuelled this theory.
In any case, the twin blasts are not the only headaches for the anti-terror investigators. Last Dec, a blast occurred near the Israel embassy. In Jan 2022, an unattended bag containing an improvised explosive device was discovered at the Ghazipur flower market. A month later, on Feb 17, 2022, the Special Cell found another IED at a house in old Seemapuri in northeast Delhi. On Jan 29, 2021, a low-intensity blast had occurred near the Israel embassy.
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