Ghazipur, Old Seemapuri bomb links growing, say Delhi Police

The bike used to plant the bomb was stolen from Shastri Nagar in 2020, leading police to suspect that the accused may have received support from some local people

A motorcycle that was allegedly used by suspects who planted an improvised explosive device (IED) near the gate of Ghazipur Flower Market on January 14, was recovered from a parking lot near Old Seemapuri -- the area in northeast Delhi where the second IED was found on February 17, police officers privy to investigation into the two cases have said, adding that the vehicle indicates that the two incidents were connected.

The house in Old Seemapuri where the IED was found on Friday. (HT)

The bike, the investigators said, was stolen in 2020 from another northeast Delhi locality, Shastri Nagar.

Officers of the Delhi Police’s Special Cell, which is probing the cases, said the fact that the alleged suspects were living in Seemapuri, and stole a bike to install a bomb at Ghazipur market, indicate that some local people may have been providing them logistical support.

Investigators said though the bike hints at the link between the Ghazipur and Seemapuri incidents, but added that they were still ascertaining who stole the two-wheeler from the parking lot, and how it landed in the hands of the people who planted the two bombs.

Officers said they were also trying to establish the identities of the tenants who were living in the Seempuri building from where the second IED was found during a raid by the special cell sleuths. So far, the police have said that both the bombs were found in similar bags and while the National Security Guard experts have confirmed the presence of RDX, ammonium nitrate and timer in the device found from Ghazipur, they have hinted that the second one from Seemapuri may also have RDX.

Intelligence officials have earlier said that RDX is a military grade explosive which is not sold in the open market and in most of the instances when it has been used in India, its origin has been traced to Pakistan.

“Several facts that emerged during our investigation in two cases indicate that the entire planning and execution was done meticulously. Firstly, RDX that is not readily and easily available in India was used as the explosive in both the IEDs. Secondly, the executors used a bike that was stolen in 2020. Then, the bike was left in a parking lot near a Metro station. The suspects lived as tenants in a lane that only had two CCTVs, but both of them were out of focus. They also managed to avoid police verification. All these facts hint that the planners and executors were trained hands,” said a police officer who asked not to be named.

On January 14, an IED weighing around 3kg and containing powerful explosive materials like RDX and ammonium nitrate was found in an unclaimed black bag near gate number 1 of Delhi’s largest flower market in Ghazipur, just an hour and eight minutes before it was set to detonate. It was destroyed by the NSG’s bomb disposal squad through a controlled explosion for which an 8-foot pit was dug in the market premises. The city police’s anti-terror squad, special cell, registered a case and began their probe, during which they scanned scores of CCTV cameras to identify the persons who planted the IED.

According to investigators, the video footage helped the investigators identify the bike on which two men carried the IED bag. The electronic surveillance led them to certain telephonic conversations that indicated that the suspects had some links with Old Seemapuri. The inputs were developed and the police reached the building, where the suspects were living. But by the time the building was raided the suspects had fled, they said. Another black bag having a similar IED was found in a locked room on the second floor on February 14 and the same day the bike was recovered by the Shahdara district police.

The owner of the house, Hashim Ahmad, and a property dealer, Shamim Ahmed, on whose reference the suspects had got the second floor on rent were taken into custody for questioning. It was learnt that they had not done the police verification of the suspects, the officers said.

Hashim and Shamim told the police that only one man had approached them for taking the floor on rent. The identification document that he had submitted turned out to be forged, the officers said.

“We are now trying to ascertain the people who helped the suspects obtain the forged ID, and introduced him to Shamim. The RDX may have been routed from Pakistan via Punjab or Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), and then into the hands of the suspects in Delhi. However, ammonium nitrate and other components used in the IED were locally procured, and someone must have helped the suspects” said a second officer who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

The second floor of the four-storey building in Seemapuri where the suspects lived and left an IED, was earlier used for running a unit engaged in stitching of clothes. It was vacated in November last year, and the landlord had for the first time rented out the floor for residential purposes, the second officer said.