Days ahead of the Republic Day celebrations, Delhi Police on Friday recovered an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in the city’s Ghazipur Phool Mandi and ensured there were no casualties, said the police.
The police said the IED was disposed of by the National Security Guard’s Bomb Disposal Squad using a controlled explosion. “Ensuring no casualties, #DelhiPolice recovers IED in Ghazipur Phool Mandi. Device was disposed of by NSG’s Bomb Disposal Squad using a controlled explosion,” tweeted Delhi Police.
Minutes after the incident, the Delhi Police said, “A case has been registered in the Delhi Police Special Cell under provisions of the Explosive Substances Act.”
Sensing the severity of the matter, NSG commandos were sent to the location. Later, NSG officials said, “A bomb disposal squad of NSG has defused the IED recovered from Ghazipur. Samples of the IED have been collected and the NSG team will later submit a report of the chemical component used to assemble the explosive.”
The Bomb Disposal Squad of the NSG has shared with chief M.A. Ganapathy that prima facie, RDX and Ammonium Nitrate chemical compounds are suspected to have been used in the manufacturing of the approximately 3 kg IED.
A post-analysis lab report being conducted by the NSG’s BDS unit is under process as the team has collected samples after defusing the Improvised Explosive Device (IED).
RDX and Ammonium Nitrate chemical compounds are suspected to have been used in manufacturing of the approximately 3 kg IED recovered from east Delhi’s Ghazipur area that sent security agencies into a tizzy ahead of Republic Day celebrations scheduled to take place inside the next two weeks.
“The Bomb Disposal Squad of NSG prima facie finds chemical compounds like RDX and Ammonium Nitrate in the manufacturing of IED recovered from Ghazipur,” NSG Director General M.A. Ganapathy said.
Meanwhile, an NSG officer Jagdish Maithani said the IED weighing approximately 3 kg was defused around 1.30 pm by the BDS unit of the NSG. The officer said that the NSG received input about the IED around 11 am following which a team of nearly 11 to 15 personnel of its BDS unit were pressed on the spot. The BDS unit of the NSG has defused the IED and started an inquiry to get details of the exact chemical compound used to manufacture the explosive.
The BDS team of the NSG was pressed at Ghazipur Flower Market soon after an alert received from the Delhi Police, said Maithani, adding “samples of the IED has been collected and the NSG team will later submit a report of the chemical component used to assemble the explosive”.
The IED was disposed of in a controlled explosion by pressing it into an eight-feet deep pit, which triggered a loud sound and smoke, said sources.
Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana said, “Based on the information received, an IED has been recovered.”
Soon after the recovery, the Special Cell said that the suspects had done a detailed recce of the spot where the explosive was recovered. According to sources in the Special Cell, the bag full of IED was kept near the gate of the flower market. Its detailed recce had been done by the suspects. If the bag had been kept inside the gate, it could have been captured in the CCTV camera. The bag was kept on the ground. The police had received a call after which the team had been alerted. A man named Anupam had informed the control room about the presence of an unattended bag at 10.19 am on Friday. His scooter was parked at the place where the explosive was planted.
Special Cell sources further said that two CCTV cameras are installed at the gate of the market and the police are exploring them along with the cameras installed in the nearby areas to find a clue of the suspect.
“There are two CCTV cameras installed at the gate of the flower market. However, none of the cameras could capture the act of placing the bag at the spot. One camera is fitted on the inside and the other on the outside. There were possibilities of finding the footage of the incident on the CCTV on the outside,” the sources said.
“But the camera has been placed in such a way that it captures the number plate of the vehicles entering the market. So, the police could not find any clue from the footage. The Delhi Police is also looking into the CCTV camera footage of the nearby locations to find a clue of the suspect,” added sources.