Jaipur blasts: Police pick up bomb’s ingredients in Chandni Chowk, Delhi

On Friday, the Rajasthan Police went on alert after the SP (Ajmer) and SHO (Clock Tower) received two unsigned local post-cards written in English and demanding that the city police release the 34 Bangaldeshis detained after the blasts. Top Rajasthan Police officials said the letters warned of bomb attacks in Ajmer between June 12-20 if this was not done.

Officials do not think that any terror group can be linked to the letters and said the deportation orders for 24 of the detained Bangladeshis were issued earlier.

The reason investigators are convinced that the bombs were not assembled in Jaipur is analysis of the components of the unexploded device found there on the day of the blasts: the Samay clock timer, small ball bearings (used as shrapnel), Hi-5 Chinese nine-volt battery and Silver Oak casing (Chinar casing) are not available in the Pink City.

A Rajasthan Police team found that all the parts of the bomb—except the Ammonium Nitrate gelatin sticks—are available at shops in Chandni Chowk. Consider these:

• The bag containing the device is a Chinese brand “Bonano” and is available in Delhi and Mumbai. Dealers in Jaipur questioned by the police did not recall selling this particularr brand.

• The Rajasthan police team purchased the specific Samay Clock timer in Chandni Chowk.

• The ball bearings used in the device are not those used in cycles but smaller in diameter. The police team also bought these in Chandni Chowk.

• The Hi-5 Chinese nine-volt battery is readily found in Chandni Chowk.

The Silver Oak wood, used to encase the device, comes from hills in states like Jammu and Kashmir. The police team bought some in Chandni Chowk.

• The Aluminium detonators, paraffin wax and tape are easily available in Jaipur and elsewhere in the country.

• Investigators say the bombers did not buy the gelatin sticks—usually used in quarrying—in Jaipur or elsewhere in Rajasthan as they have questioned all the dealers.

The Rajasthan Police say they cannot conclude that the bombs were made in Delhi or its neighbourhood, but suspect that there’s a trail to pick up along Delhi-Ghaziabad-Bijnore. And it’s hoping new clues will emerge after scanning the mobile calls made 30 minutes before and after the blasts.

The trail of the e-mail, which was sent from a Sahibabad cyber café, has gone cold as that ID was created only an hour before the mail was sent to TV channels.

Two rounds of interrogation of SIMI general secretary Safdar Nagori has yielded litle information on which terror group was behind the blasts. After interrogating him, the Rajasthan Police picked up Mohammed Ilyaas, a cleric in a Bharatpur mosque. Ilyaas, according to the Rajasthan Police, was an accomplice of Yaqub Khan, a key suspect in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts. The interrogation of software engineer Rashid Hussain, picked up on the basis of Nagori’s questioning, has yielded nothing.