Bomb found near North Block

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, APRIL 11. A bomb kept inside a tiffin box was found on Tuesday night in the parking lot in front of Gate No. 2 - the entrance to the Union Ministry of Finance - at the North Block here.

The tiffin box, wrapped in a yellow polythene bag, was found by Mr. D.S.M. Sundaram, Personal Assistant to the Union Minister of State for Finance, Mr. Vikhe Patil, when he went to his scooter around 8.45 p.m. He became suspicious as there was no one to claim it and alerted two constables of the Central Industrial Security Force on duty at the gate.

The constables informed the caretaker of the Finance Ministry, Mr. Harnam Singh, who contacted the Police Control Room. The bomb disposal squad of the local police and of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security were summoned along with the Army's dog squad. After a two-hour exercise, the improvised explosive device, which had a white jelly-like substance stashed in the plastic mould of the tiffin carrier, was defused.

Police recovered two electronic detonators, one ABCD timer and one nine-volt battery. The Joint Commissioner of Police (New Delhi Range), Mr. Suresh Roy, said the charge in the battery had become very weak. The police are still clueless as to when the bomb was planted.

Ruling out involvement of hardcore fundamentalist organisations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, Mr. Roy said it seemed to have been the handiwork of some ``peripheral organisation'' as the modus operandi was that of a `novice'.

The officer said there was ``no security breach'' as the parking place was free for public and ``it was not as if a posse of policemen were posted and the culprit managed to sneak in''.

In the wake of the incident, however, the CISF personnel posted at various Government buildings have been put on high alert.

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