The Hindu : Use of RDX hints at LeT hand in Mumbai blasts

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Aug 28, 2003

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National

Use of RDX hints at LeT hand in Mumbai blasts

By Lyla Bavadam

Mumbai Aug. 27. The high-grade explosive, RDX, was the "main charge" used in the twin blasts in Mumbai on Monday, and the "primary suspect" is most likely the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), authorities here said today.

According to the Mumbai police chief, R. S. Sharma, the choice of explosive indicated the hand of the LeT. "This group has been trained in the use of RDX. They have shown their confidence while handling such a high explosive material. They sat with confidence in a taxi with the explosive in the boot of the same vehicle. They were obviously very familiar with handling it," he said.

Four persons are believed to have been in the taxi that exploded between the Gateway of India and the Taj hotel.

Rukmani Krishnamurthy, Director of Forensic Science Laboratory, here said: "The main charge used was RDX. It is a powerful high explosive that causes severe damage. When detonated it leads to temperatures of 3000 degrees Centigrade and creates a wind movement. When this hits people they can die."

Since this "was in the boot of the taxi, it combined with the CNG fuel cylinder to create a severe impact." Doctors at the government GT Hospital where patients were being treated confirmed that all the patients had burns, ranging from severe to mild. Experts estimate that about 5 kg of RDX was used in each of the blasts.

RDX is unavailable in India, but was used in the serial blasts of March 12, 1993 in Mumbai. Since then the explosive has not been used in the city though it has been "used quite a bit" in attacks in Jammu and Kashmir where the LeT is very active. "Whether and what type of global assistance the LeT received is yet to be confirmed," said Mr. Sharma.

The LeT is headquartered in Pakistan from where its northern India offensives are run. Its southern India offensives, which include Mumbai, are run from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

A module group of the LeT was known to have been active in Mumbai. The group's southern India commander, Abu Sultan alias Faizal Khan, was shot dead in a police encounter on March 29, 2003 in the suburb of Goregaon. Mr. Sharma does not discount the possibility that another module could have since been created and could be responsible for the Monday's blasts. Police said that local assistance from the outlawed Students Islamic Movement of India is still a high possibility. Police do not rule out the involvement of the Jaish-e-Mohammed jehadi group. Another clue that the police are following is the possible involvement of a Bangladeshi national who is believed to be an operative of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence.

Teams from the Forensic Science Laboratory, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of Maharashtra; the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Chandigarh; and experts from the National Security Guard, New Delhi, have been carrying out investigations on the samples collected from the sites.

Several bodies that remain unidentified due to blast-caused amputation of limbs are due to undergo DNA tests to determine identities.

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