Rohini court blast: Police say the bomb may have been brought in a car

The device exploded around 10.30am inside courtroom number 102 of Rohini district court on Thursday, injuring a policeman who was posted as naib court (a court official). The case is being investigated by the special cell teams of northern range

The bag containing the improvised explosive device that went off inside a courtroom at the Rohini district court complex on Wednesday may have been brought in a car, and escaped baggage scanning, investigators said on Thursday even as they were still piecing together the sequence of events.

Security personnel outside Rohini court after a explosion was reported inside a courtroom. The police said the crude bomb was an IED (HT Photo)

Senior police officers said the forensic and counter-terrorism experts from the National Security Guard (NSG), who inspected the blast site and examined the explosive, have told them that the explosive device was stuffed in a metal tiffin box kept inside a black laptop bag.

“The forensic experts told us that a battery used in a two-wheeler and ammonium nitrate was used in the blast. We are not ruling out the possibility that IED was triggered using an electronic device that could be a remote control. More clarity on it would come when we get the forensic reports,” said a police officer, who asked not to be named.

The device exploded around 10.30am inside courtroom number 102 on Thursday, injuring a policeman who was posted as naib court (a court official). The case is being investigated by the special cell teams of northern range (NR).

Another investigator, who also asked not to be named, said the explosion may have been carried out by one person on a “do-it-yourself” basis, which means that the suspect procured the explosive substance, electronic devices and other items, and assembled them into an IED, possibly by watching videos on the internet.

He added that the footage from all CCTV cameras at the entry-exit gates of the court complex was being scanned to ascertain how the explosive device brought inside the court premises.

Another senior police officer said they were also gathering details on the all the cases related to courtroom number 102, and the adjoining rooms, to check if the explosion was done to target any dreaded criminal or gangster who was going to appear in the court that day.

“Investigators are also looking into the backgrounds of the judicial officers, lawyers and court staffers of courtroom number 102 and the adjoining ones as well. It may help them ascertain the motive behind the bomb blast, only in the case if it wasn’t a terrorist attack,” added the officer, who did not want to be named.

An important aspect that the investigating teams have also focused on is the antecedents of the injured policeman, head constable Rajeev of Sultanpuri police station, who was posted in the courtroom as a niab court.

“The idea is to find out if any criminal or individual had animosity against the head constable. It is one of the possibilities we are working on,” the officer said.

The officers said that apart from scanning CCTV footage of the court premises, investigators are also collecting dump data of cellphones active in and around the court complex. Examining the dump data may help them identify suspicious mobile numbers that were active in the neighbourhood only around the time when the blast took place.

“We have reasons to believe that the person who planted the bomb in the courtroom had conducted detailed reconnaissance of the court campus and he may have visited there many times in the past. The courtroom’s gate was opened around 10 am and the blast took place about 10.30 am. It means that the suspect finished his job and left the court premises in less than half an hour,” said another police officer.

The blast in the courtroom had triggered panic and raised serious questions over the security arrangements that were strengthened in the court after dreaded gangster Jitender Maan alias Gogi was shot dead inside another courtroom by two gunmen dressed as lawyers on September 24.