The Hindu : National : IED explosion rocks Ernakulam collectorate

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IED explosion rocks Ernakulam collectorate

Staff Reporter

KOCHI: An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) went off on the fifth floor of the Ernakulam collectorate at Kakkanad near here on Friday afternoon triggering panic across the city.

An employee suffered a minor injury. There were no casualties in the explosion that occurred at a time when hundreds of employees and visitors were present in the collectorate.

The nitrate-based IED was set in a pipe and was set off using a timer and detonator, confirmed experts and officials of the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad who visited the site. The timer could not be recovered as it was suspected to have been blown off completely in the impact of the explosion. Parts of the detonator were recovered, it is learnt.

The incident occurred at 3 p.m. Some unidentified substance in a sack filled with wastepaper and similar throwaway items placed on the right hand corner of a flight of stairs ending on the fifth floor exploded. The source of the high-decibel sound was not immediately clear and panic-stricken employees rushed out of the office.

The police and Fire and Rescue Services personnel rushed to the scene. The dog and the bomb detection and disposal squads were also pressed into service.

A police team led by Deputy Commissioner of Police P. Prakash; P.M. Varghese, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Thrikkakara; and Shamsu Illikkal, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Special Branch; closely examined a sticky substance found on the walls. It smelt like gunpowder used in firecrackers.

City Police Commissioner Manoj Abraham, who rushed to the scene, said neither the condition of the floor nor the path of projectile suggested a high-intensity explosion.

Mr. Abraham said the scene of explosion reeked of an odour of some kind of oil. He said the specimen collected from the scene had been sent to the chemical analysis laboratory.

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