Common thread binds Hyderabad & Malegaon

The NSG team, which had studied the Malegaon blast site also, has cited striking similarities between the metal pieces used as shrapnel in the bombs at the two sites.

“The metal pieces are exactly the same. They seem to be from a common source. It is very much like Malegaon. The black metal boxes used to pack the bombs are also similar,” one of the members of the team said.

The NSG team, however, reported that the detonating mechanism and chemicals used in Malegaon and Hyderabad to trigger the bombs were slightly different. “A timer was used in both the cases. In Malegaon, it was a small clock, here it was a mobile phone. The common explosive material is RDX. In Malegaon it was mixed with ammonium nitrate and here with TNT,” the NSG official said.

According to NSG experts, the explosives used in Hyderabad possibly came from outside the country. “The RDX-TNT mix is commonly used in armaments in the military, but it is very difficult to convert it into a powder form as seen here,” the team reported.

Incidentally, the Central intelligence agencies reported the entry of a large consignment of RDX into the country via the western coast around two years ago. But the consignment remained untraced.

The National Security Guard team added that the metal pipes used to build the bombs in Hyderabad were of a kind not seen by them before.

While comparisons have been drawn between the Malegaon and the Hyderabad mosque blasts, Home Minister Shivraj Patil had stated at a press conference in Hyderabad that it was too early to draw any similarities.

“Let us not jump to any conclusion. The Malegaon case is being examined and this will also be investigated,” he had stated.