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Coimbatore car bomb was a pro job, says army expert

The Coimbatore car bomb, which was defused on February 18 by the Pune-based 203 Bomb Disposal Company, was most cleverly fabricated, and the "work of a professional".

An analysis of the devices defused revealed that though there was a marked degree of expertise on the part of the fabricator, it could not be activated only because of a "rusty switch". Although the 203 Bomb Disposal Company, set up in 1965, has defused many an unexploded bomb and improvised explosive devices in the past, working on the Coimbatore bomb was a "challenging task", according to Captain Sanjay Chawla, who led a team of six members including a junior commissioned officer and four other ranks.

Talking to reporters in Pune, Captainain Chawla said one wrong step in dealing with the device could have triggered off the charge, which was estimated to be around 80 to 90 kg of explosives and which could have caused enormous damage to the surroundings.

Utmost care was taken to ensure absolute safety, he said, adding that three hours were spent on February 17 afternoon in discussing the psyche of the anti-national elements.

With due precautions taken, the team managed to separate one of the wires to the activating switch of the bomb using remote operated wire cutters, but had to suspend further operations due to failing light.

Captain Chawla, who successfully conducted the operation, said the device was made safe on February 18 and six boxes of explosives were separated one at a time using a pulling technique and taken to a safe area for disposal. To demonstrate the operation, Captain Chawla simulated the scene with one member donning the 35 kg Canadian-make bomb suit to defuse an IED (improvised explosive device) at the company headquarters.

Major Thomas of the BDC, meanwhile, said the company regularly undertakes the study of each event while imparting training to 'bomb technicians' to a degree that every individual in the company is at ease with all types of service explosives available in the country.

Detailed knowledge of the type of IEDs detected and in use with most banned organisations in the world is available with the company, and study of ANE (anti-national elements) is gathered by painstaking effort and after analysis of each incident, is isolated to form a complete picture.

In Coimbatore, meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi said he was not against a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into the recent serial bomb blasts, but did not think it was necessary as the probe by the state police was progressing well.

He said the CBI too had its limitations as evidenced from the fact that it had not been able to file a chargesheet so far in the case relating to the bomb blast at the RSS headquarters in Madras in 1993.

Karunanidhi asserted that the state government would not hesitate to take stringent action against individuals and organisations inciting communal hatred and violence, irrespective of their religion.

Referring to the desecration of an Ambedkar statue at Tindivanam, he said stern action would be taken against those who were involved in the desecration of statues of national leaders. He recalled the efforts made by the DMK in setting up an university in Dr Ambedkar's name.

UNI

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