Cops sniff ISI hand, govt to try POTA

‘‘We will firmly deal with the guilty. Cases have been registered under the IPC and Explosive Substance Act but we are ready to apply even POTA to deal with them’’, he said. A woman was killed and 21 others were injured when a bomb concealed in a milk can kept on a parked scooter exploded at the Sai Baba Temple at Saroornagar yesterday. Goud announced ex-gratia payment as per norms for the victims.

One woman was killed and 21 injured in the bomb explosion near Shirdi Sai Baba temple last night. According to sources, some followers of slain ISI agent Azam Ghori, who were released from jail last month, are being suspected have engineered the blast. The explosives found at the temple site matches the material used by the same group in earlier incidents. The technology used was also similar.

Police traced the scooter, ATJ 7446, (to which the milk cans carrying explosives was hung) to Amarjeet Singh of Nizamabad. Singh is believed to have disowned the vehicle. He has been detained for interrogation. Pamphlets written in Urdu were also recovered from the boot of the vehicle.

The material used in triggering the blast were Ammonium Nitrate, Potassium Chlorate, Potassium Nitrate and Aluminum powder, besides nails, screws, two types of metal balls and few metal pieces. A 9-volt battery and a torchlight bulb connected to two milk cans was used to trigger the blast. Two pipe bombs were also kept in the scooter’s boot, which were connected to the milk cans through a filament. The cans were placed on either side of the scooter and only one went off.

Rangareddy district police superintendent M.V. Ramachandra Raju said over 10 police teams are probing the case. The bomb disposal squad and Quick Action Team were on their toes today, as they received several calls about unclaimed objects lying in the city. None of them were found to be explosives.

Meanwhile, the bandh called by the VHP to protest the incident went off peacefully, barring a few incidents of stoning RTC buses.