Investigators say if all explosions had been set off as planned, the entire train, carrying 757 passengers, would have been engulfed in flames.
NEW DELHI: The Samjhauta Express catastrophe may have been several times more deadly if the terrorists’ scheme had worked as planned, investigators said as they attempted to reconstruct the plot.
The terrorists had planned a series of blasts involving four bombs to create an instantaneous gush of fire in the train. The fire would have triggered more explosions, investigators believe, because more incendiary chemicals were recovered from the train. If all explosions had been set off as planned, the entire train, carrying 757 passengers, would have been engulfed in flames.
But two of the four bombs, timed to explode a few minutes after the first two blasts, were detected and defused. And, fortunately for the passengers, chemicals and petrol bottles placed in the train by terrorists to ensure abject harm did not catch fire.
Investigators believe the time-lag after the first two explosions, during which one of the bombs was thrown off the train and the other was detected, “saved several lives”. They are, however, not close yet to understanding the plot that resulted in 67 deaths.
As investigators from the intelligence agencies and state police forces fan across north India hunting for clues, close scrutiny has begun of the passenger manifest of the train that left Old Delhi for Attari. The Panipat police and intelligence officers there have been questioning several people, including a Pakistani, Usman Mohammad, a Karachi resident. He is not a suspect, a source said.
In New Delhi, police have been questioning owners of chemical shops to determine if the material - such as sulphur and ammonium nitrate - used in the bombs were bought recently. Police are also carrying out an extensive study of the CCTV recordings from guesthouses in New Delhi and Old Delhi.
But the hope of finding worthwhile intelligence is slim, one source said. “In all likelihood, the bombers came in, planted the bombs, and went away from Old Delhi itself,” a seasoned intelligence officer said. “It is even possible for several people to bring in different parts of the bomb and assemble them in no time in the train,” he said, pointing to the low level of sophistication involved in the explosions.
But what has startled investigators is the extremely strategic sophistication behind the targeting of such a high-profile train. Chemicals from the two unexploded bombs and other samples have been sent for analyses.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}