Traces of ammonium nitrate found in Hyd blasts site

Vicky Nanjappa reports: An official from the NIA who visited the site of the twin blasts in Hyderabad -- that killed at least 15 and injured 78 others on Thursday evening -- said that there were traces of ammonium nitrate at the spot.

This would indicate the use of the ammonium nitrate in preparing the bomb which was packed with an improvised explosive device of very high quality The official says that the two bombs were packed in a tiffin box and connected to a timer device.

The device was timed to take off within a span of ten minutes and there was absolutely no flaw in the preparation of the bomb. It appears to have been prepared by a professional bomb-maker and it was set to precision, and hence there was such a major impact that was caused.

Both the bombs were placed meters away from each other and were placed on bicycles. The substance will be sent to the forensic sciences laboratory where the exact material will be ascertained. In 2002 at the Sai Baba temple blasts, the material used was neogel 90 along with IEDs.

However, the subsequent blasts that rocked derabad saw the use of ammonium nitrate which again proves the easy availability of the substance. The Indian Mujahideen has used the ammonium nitrate regularly and has adopted the cycle as a carrier for the bombs in the past as well.

Meanwhile, the police have formed special teams to track down the culprits. The Hyderabad police are in touch with their counterparts in the neighbouring states to get more clues. Eyewitnesses are being questioned to get a fair description of who could have placed the bomb. The police are, however, not able to confirm the presence of a CCTV as of now.