03-09-2006, 02:35 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Frozen timers spared lives </b>
Bishwadeep Ghosh/ Varanasi
Tuesday's bombings in Varanasi would have turned into a carnage had three explosive devices strategically planted by the terrorists not failed to go off. These were defused after the serial blasts shook the temple town.
The bombs that failed to go off were packed in carry bags and left in a manner so as not to rouse suspicion. Fortunately,<b> an alert policeman noticed one of the bags that had been left near Kashi Vishwanath Temple on Dasashwamedh Road. Another bag containing a bomb was found in a restaurant, while a third was found on Dasashwamedh Ghat.</b>
Thousands of people throng Kashi Vishwanath Temple every evening, and the lanes and bylanes surrounding the shrine are crammed with devotees. Similarly, huge crowds gather at Dasashwamedh Ghat for the evening aarti. If the bombs had gone off, there would have beena bloodbath.
<b>Investigations have revealed that the explosive material was placed inside used pressure cookers and timers were attached to them. The device was then packed in a bag.</b> These were left in crowded areas.
Fortunately, the timer of the device found at Dasashwamedh Ghat got stuck at 6.05 pm. The timers of the other two devices were also stuck. Obviously, the devices had been timed for staggered explosions, but something went wrong, freezing the timers.
Sleuths of Varanasi Police, the elite Special Task Force (STF) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) are busy combing the sites of the bomb explosions - Sankat Mochan Temple and Varanasi Cantonment Railway Station for clues. A team of forensic experts confirmed late <b>Wednesday evening that Ammonium Nitrate, and not RDX, had been used as the explosive material in the bombs</b>.
But till Wednesday evening, the agencies had virtually nothing to cling on to <b>except a video tape shot during a marriage ceremony at Sankat Mochan Temple</b>. Senior Superintendent of Police Navneit Sikera said <b>the investigators have managed to lay their hands on the videotape of the marriage that was being shot when the first explosion took place. Mr Sikera said the tape contains frames of some people moving suspiciously around the marriage venue minutes before the blast.</b>
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Bishwadeep Ghosh/ Varanasi
Tuesday's bombings in Varanasi would have turned into a carnage had three explosive devices strategically planted by the terrorists not failed to go off. These were defused after the serial blasts shook the temple town.
The bombs that failed to go off were packed in carry bags and left in a manner so as not to rouse suspicion. Fortunately,<b> an alert policeman noticed one of the bags that had been left near Kashi Vishwanath Temple on Dasashwamedh Road. Another bag containing a bomb was found in a restaurant, while a third was found on Dasashwamedh Ghat.</b>
Thousands of people throng Kashi Vishwanath Temple every evening, and the lanes and bylanes surrounding the shrine are crammed with devotees. Similarly, huge crowds gather at Dasashwamedh Ghat for the evening aarti. If the bombs had gone off, there would have beena bloodbath.
<b>Investigations have revealed that the explosive material was placed inside used pressure cookers and timers were attached to them. The device was then packed in a bag.</b> These were left in crowded areas.
Fortunately, the timer of the device found at Dasashwamedh Ghat got stuck at 6.05 pm. The timers of the other two devices were also stuck. Obviously, the devices had been timed for staggered explosions, but something went wrong, freezing the timers.
Sleuths of Varanasi Police, the elite Special Task Force (STF) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) are busy combing the sites of the bomb explosions - Sankat Mochan Temple and Varanasi Cantonment Railway Station for clues. A team of forensic experts confirmed late <b>Wednesday evening that Ammonium Nitrate, and not RDX, had been used as the explosive material in the bombs</b>.
But till Wednesday evening, the agencies had virtually nothing to cling on to <b>except a video tape shot during a marriage ceremony at Sankat Mochan Temple</b>. Senior Superintendent of Police Navneit Sikera said <b>the investigators have managed to lay their hands on the videotape of the marriage that was being shot when the first explosion took place. Mr Sikera said the tape contains frames of some people moving suspiciously around the marriage venue minutes before the blast.</b>
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