Four youths may have planted bomb on Advani's yatra route

As the Special Investigation Team probes into the pipe bomb planted on senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani's yatra route, police claim that they have some leads in the case. However, they have not been able to confirm who was behind the Madurai incident.

According to the police, four youths planned the crude bomb on the road to Alampati village near Thirumangalam in Madurai before the yatra could pass. They also claim that the material used to install the bomb could have been acquired from a nearby quarry. After examining the explosive material, it is clear that the intention of the plotters was only to create panic. The bomb was not powerful enough to blow up Advani's convoy, said officials investigating the case.    

"It appears to be an incident aimed at creating a diversion and could have well been plotted by political rivals. Although small terror modules operating in the area are under our scrutiny, most likely the bomb was planted by a group of young men who are not linked with any extremist group," said an investigating officer.   

"We are looking into two aspects in this case. Either it could be an attempt to create a diversion or just some group, which is upset with the leader and his yatra. However we are hopeful of making a breakthrough this week," he added.

Madurai has been notorious for such incidents. Over the past two years, similar cases have been reported from the region, where similar explosive material has been used, the police said.

However, all these cases remain unsolved and investigators have not been able to pinpoint at any particular group who could be responsible for the attack. They claim that these are acts plotted by miscreants and have been aimed at settling personal scores.             

In the area around Alampati village, several fringe outfits operate and they have easy access to ammunition. According to the police, the assembling of bomb that was placed on Advani's route was an amateur job, which was done hurriedly.  

The Power Gel 90 used in the pipe bomb is used in quarries. In addition, the battery used to trigger the bomb was from a motorcycle. The plotters could have stolen the battery and even the Power Gel 90. But, procuring the materials from the quarry by paying a small amount to workers is no big task, said the police.        

Insiders say that a few suspects have been detained and are now being questioned. However, the police have not gone on record about the arrest. During the interrogation, it has been found that the youth worked independently and had managed to gather information about the yatra much before it reached Tamil Nadu.