‘Tiffin-bomb’ blast near Madurai; One injured, 11 devices defused
Jun 17, 2009 From Gopal Ethiraj
Madurai, 17 June (Asiantribune.com): One person was injured when a low intensity bomb packed in a tiffin box went off, near a road bridge on the outskirts of the city. Eleven similar explosive devices found nearby were defused. Police defused the ‘tiffin-bombs’ seized from a bag found under a bridge at Viraganur near here on Monday night.
Police said a local, Mahesh, 24, found a tiffin-box lying near the bridge when he went there to to answer a nature’s call. After his attempts to open the box failed, he flung it on the ground, following which it exploded, injuring him in the process.
The explosives were of low intensity and improvised variety of the country bombs, IG (South Zone) Sanjeev Kumar told media persons after visiting the spot. One of the bombs was found to be quite powerful, a police official said. The ‘tiffin-bombs’ could have been dropped near the bridge owing to intensified patrolling and vehicle checks by police.
The boxes contained sharp blade pieces, explosive chemicals, pebbles and some splinter materials and had the capacity to cause damage in a 20 sq. ft. area, he said.
Officials here are concerned over finding of such a large number of ‘tiffin-bombs’ as the bridge is located en route to Rameshwaram and close to Sivaganga Parliamentary constituency, from where Home Minister P. Chidambaram had won the recent Lok Sabha polls.
Police teams aided by sniffer dogs are searching the area for more bombs and all check posts have been alerted. “We are on high alert and we will intensify patrolling,” Mr. Kumar said.
A police official said bombs similar to these are used in group clashes in southern Tamil Nadu, including Tirunelveli and Ramanathapuram. The Madurai police averted a major mishap with the timely detection of bombs packed in a bag.
- Asian Tribune -
Madurai, 17 June (Asiantribune.com): One person was injured when a low intensity bomb packed in a tiffin box went off, near a road bridge on the outskirts of the city. Eleven similar explosive devices found nearby were defused. Police defused the ‘tiffin-bombs’ seized from a bag found under a bridge at Viraganur near here on Monday night.
Police said a local, Mahesh, 24, found a tiffin-box lying near the bridge when he went there to to answer a nature’s call. After his attempts to open the box failed, he flung it on the ground, following which it exploded, injuring him in the process.
The explosives were of low intensity and improvised variety of the country bombs, IG (South Zone) Sanjeev Kumar told media persons after visiting the spot. One of the bombs was found to be quite powerful, a police official said. The ‘tiffin-bombs’ could have been dropped near the bridge owing to intensified patrolling and vehicle checks by police.
The boxes contained sharp blade pieces, explosive chemicals, pebbles and some splinter materials and had the capacity to cause damage in a 20 sq. ft. area, he said.
Officials here are concerned over finding of such a large number of ‘tiffin-bombs’ as the bridge is located en route to Rameshwaram and close to Sivaganga Parliamentary constituency, from where Home Minister P. Chidambaram had won the recent Lok Sabha polls.
Police teams aided by sniffer dogs are searching the area for more bombs and all check posts have been alerted. “We are on high alert and we will intensify patrolling,” Mr. Kumar said.
A police official said bombs similar to these are used in group clashes in southern Tamil Nadu, including Tirunelveli and Ramanathapuram. The Madurai police averted a major mishap with the timely detection of bombs packed in a bag.
- Asian Tribune -
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