NEW DELHI: Contrary to the theories floated by the Delhi police, the powerful explosion that ripped apart a four storyed guest house in Central Delhi’s Paharganj area on April 20 was the handiwork of militants, haying connections with foreign powers.
According to a report of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the explosion was caused by a powerful bomb, having at least 10 kg of the deadly explosive, RDX. ‘The secret report, prepared by the 1B’s Kashmir desk on the basis of their own investigations and findings of the burean’s famous bomb expert, Col Sundaram, says that the bomb was planted in one of the rooms by suspected Kashmiri militants.
One of the planters of the bomb is himself believed to have died in the explosion, in which 17 persons were killed as the entire structure collapsed like a pack of cards.
The three page report, sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs, also warns of. A spurt in bomb blasts and militant activities in the Jammu region, The TB has already warmed of poll related violence by various militant outfits backed by Pakistan’s notorious secret service, the Underserviced Intelligence (ISI).
A crude bomb explosion in North Delhi’s Nathupura area and a powerful explosion in a Delhi Roorkee bus at Modi nagar occurred after the Paharganj blast. While only three persons sustained minor injuries in the Worth Delhi incident. As many as 15 were killed and 51 injured in the ‘Modi nagar bus blast. ‘On April 2, the Union Home Ministry had ordered a strict vigil along the Jong Indian coastline in view of intelligence reports that two or three girls Of LTTE’s suicide squad had entered India to target top political leaders and about 300 LTTE cadres, trained in Pakistan, were all set to infiltrate into India to disrupt the polls.
The IB report raises some disturbing questions.
If the explosion was indeed caused by a bomb filled with RDX, it indicates that a substantial quantity of RDX has been smuggled into India. How much RDX has been smuggled? Where is this lethal explosive hidden? Where is the remaining RDX planned to be used? And, why docs the Delhi police want the media and the people to believe that the ‘Arjun guest house’ in Paharganj had Crumbled not by a bomb, but due to a stove burst?
The theory floated by the Delhi police is that the explosion could not have been caused by a bomb as in that case, the windowpanes of neighboring buildings would also have been shattered and there would have been extensive damage.
The police also claim that at least two persons got bum injuries, which could have been caused by the stove burst. However, the police do not have any convincing answer to the question whether a stove burst could trigger off the collapse of a four storied structure. A stove bursting, even in a jhuggi, cannot bring it down, the counterargument goes.
Article extracted from this publication >>May 8, 1996
