Rajasthan detonators in Surat bombs

Making their probe into why the Surat bombs failed to explode even murkier, blast investigators have found that all the 23 devices recovered and then defused in the city on July 29 were properly fitted with detonators from Dholpur -based Rajasthan Explosive and Chemicals Limited and functioning integrated circuit board and quartz crystal timing devices.

In fact the recoveries made from the stolen car found one day after the Ahmedabad blasts in Surat reveals that the terrorists were out to hit the city in a big way. Investigators found the following materials: 30 kg nuts and bolts to be used as shrapnel; 30 detonators manufactured by Premier Explosive Limited in Karimnagar, AP; 18 kg Gelatin sticks; 10 steel tiffins used as devices; Adhesive tapes; four wooden blocks to make devices; 9 V Duracell and Chinese HW batteries; small plastic boxes could have contained timers; ball bearings in two sizes; and a spanner set.

While a police team has been dispatched to Dholpur to find out important detonator distributors in Surat, sources said that the terrorists either panicked and abandoned the mission to hit the diamond city or could not activate the improvised explosives. But the investigators are still foxed when it comes to explaining why exactly the IEDs failed to explode.

Their inability to come up with definitive answers was taken up in the Union Cabinet meeting on Thursday with a senior minister belonging to an ally party asking searching questions about the Surat devices from Home Minister Shivraj Patil.

Another Cabinet Minister suggested that the Centre should take over the blast investigations in Gujarat in order to investigate who planted the Surat devices. It was at this point that Patil pointed out to his colleagues that law and order is a state subject and it is not easy for the Centre to intervene.