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Detonator on railway tracks worries Kerala cops
The Kerala Police now know how the explosive device found near the railway tracks at Velloor between Ernakulam and Kottayam on Thursday morning could have come there but investigators are trying to find out the source of the technical knowhow behind the device and whether extremist elements were involved in its making.
Senior officials from the Crime Branch of the Kerala Police carried out examinations on Friday at the site from where the detonator, packed into a steel lunchbox, was recovered. The Crime Branch is likely to take over the investigation. Officials from the National Investigation Agency had inspected the spot on Thursday.
The detonator is believed to have been placed by a person with the intention of trapping his enemy in police case but what is perplexing the police is the professionalism seen in the making of the device. State Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan said the matter was being viewed seriously and all aspects, including any possible terror angle, would be examined.
An official of the Crime Branch said that the incident itself need not be serious but the investigators could not take it lightly “because of the technical perfection” seen in the making of the device. “It was a perfect bomb work, complete with a pipe, batteries, wires, ammonium nitrate and timer,” he said.
The police assume that the detonator could have been planted near the railway tracks by Senthil Kumar, an empanelled driver with the State-run Kerala State Road Transport Corporation hailing from Veliyanad in Ernakulam district, as part of a plan to settle scores with another driver in his locality.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Ramesh Kumar of Pala, leading the investigations, indicated that the police had got crucial clues with regard to the person behind the incident. The police raided the house of Senthil on Friday and recovered materials suggesting that he himself had planted the detonator. Senthil was believed to have escaped to Coimbatore.
“The probe is revolving around a suspect,” said an official. “However, we are examining three aspects mainly. One is personal rivalry. The two other aspects are more serious. Other people could have been involved in this,” he said. What is baffling the police is Senthil’s source of technical knowhow for making the explosive device.
The present investigations are based on the statements given by Senthil’s enemy KJ Thomas of Edakkattuvayal, whose name was found on a slip recovered from the spot where the detonator was placed. However, Thomas told newsmen,” I am not saying that he did this. All I am saying is that I am innocent.”
Senthil’s father Kumaran said he would not say his son was innocent. “Some people had attacked him recently. It is quite possible that he could have done something with the help of some of his friends. You may listen to your friends when they suggest something,” he said.
Top officials of the Railway Protection Force said security to the railways in Kerala would be strengthened in the light of the recovery of the explosive device. However, they said that the Railways was not the target of those who had planted it.
Railway tracks in Kerala are seen as particularly vulnerable to evil designs. In July, 2009, suspected Maoists had punctured the entire brake pipe system of the Nilambur-Shoranur passenger train. The NIA had at its recent South India regional conference said that Kerala had become the fountainhead of extremism in the country.
The Kerala Police now know how the explosive device found near the railway tracks at Velloor between Ernakulam and Kottayam on Thursday morning could have come there but investigators are trying to find out the source of the technical knowhow behind the device and whether extremist elements were involved in its making.
Senior officials from the Crime Branch of the Kerala Police carried out examinations on Friday at the site from where the detonator, packed into a steel lunchbox, was recovered. The Crime Branch is likely to take over the investigation. Officials from the National Investigation Agency had inspected the spot on Thursday.
The detonator is believed to have been placed by a person with the intention of trapping his enemy in police case but what is perplexing the police is the professionalism seen in the making of the device. State Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan said the matter was being viewed seriously and all aspects, including any possible terror angle, would be examined.
An official of the Crime Branch said that the incident itself need not be serious but the investigators could not take it lightly “because of the technical perfection” seen in the making of the device. “It was a perfect bomb work, complete with a pipe, batteries, wires, ammonium nitrate and timer,” he said.
The police assume that the detonator could have been planted near the railway tracks by Senthil Kumar, an empanelled driver with the State-run Kerala State Road Transport Corporation hailing from Veliyanad in Ernakulam district, as part of a plan to settle scores with another driver in his locality.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Ramesh Kumar of Pala, leading the investigations, indicated that the police had got crucial clues with regard to the person behind the incident. The police raided the house of Senthil on Friday and recovered materials suggesting that he himself had planted the detonator. Senthil was believed to have escaped to Coimbatore.
“The probe is revolving around a suspect,” said an official. “However, we are examining three aspects mainly. One is personal rivalry. The two other aspects are more serious. Other people could have been involved in this,” he said. What is baffling the police is Senthil’s source of technical knowhow for making the explosive device.
The present investigations are based on the statements given by Senthil’s enemy KJ Thomas of Edakkattuvayal, whose name was found on a slip recovered from the spot where the detonator was placed. However, Thomas told newsmen,” I am not saying that he did this. All I am saying is that I am innocent.”
Senthil’s father Kumaran said he would not say his son was innocent. “Some people had attacked him recently. It is quite possible that he could have done something with the help of some of his friends. You may listen to your friends when they suggest something,” he said.
Top officials of the Railway Protection Force said security to the railways in Kerala would be strengthened in the light of the recovery of the explosive device. However, they said that the Railways was not the target of those who had planted it.
Railway tracks in Kerala are seen as particularly vulnerable to evil designs. In July, 2009, suspected Maoists had punctured the entire brake pipe system of the Nilambur-Shoranur passenger train. The NIA had at its recent South India regional conference said that Kerala had become the fountainhead of extremism in the country.
