Reporter’s Diary: A chase for ammonium nitrate trail in Nuh

A reporter’s awkward encounters with officers, fearful locals and a broken monitoring system reveal why ammonium nitrate tracking remains nearly impossible.

Amid mounting scrutiny over the alleged use of 30 to 40 kilograms of ammonium nitrate sourced from a Pinangwan dealer to trigger last week’s fatal blast near Delhi’s Red Fort, towns and kasbahs across Nuh are abuzz with speculation around “naitrajan wali khad” or “tez khad”. The nitrogen rich fertilizer, which is routinely used to give crops a leafy makeover, has suddenly become the centre of a terror investigation and left locals in disbelief over its alleged diversion for bomb making.

The shop in Pingwan from where Dr Mohammad Umar Un Nabi allegedly bought three quintals of ammonium nitrate for the blast in New Delhi, police said. (HT Photo)

As an amateur reporter tasked with tracking illegal ammonium nitrate sales in Nuh, where high concentrations of the fertilizer are legally considered explosive, I found access to information scarce. Unlike Gurugram, where lifestyle and transparency are luxuries, Pinangwan residents were fearful of investigative cordons. Police officials, wary of speaking, kept their distance.

My first encounter with intelligence units unfolded awkwardly. Before I could ask anything, a silent officer observing the crowd turned to me and asked, “What are they saying?”

Caught off guard, I blurted out, “Have you… found ammonium nitrate?” The room went still for a moment before a few officers suppressed laughter. A rifle bearing officer in rimless glasses slowly raised an eyebrow as if to say this was not a chemistry lab.

Fertilizer dealers had shut their shops and the few who remained claimed they had never seen ammonium nitrate. The trail took me to Nuh’s agriculture department, which functions out of a building in shambles. Officials there said they had never heard of fertilizers being used in a blast.

“Sadly, it seems that terrorists skipped the agricultural manual and found a way to go undetected in our systems as nitrogen dense fertilizers are mostly used in secondary applications,” one official said on the condition of anonymity. They added that monitoring systems focus only on subsidized fertilizers and that ammonium nitrate and calcium ammonium nitrate, or CAN, remain outside the Integrated Fertiliser Management System, known as iFMS.

Tracing the fertilizer, which was first developed in the 1860s for agriculture and industry, also revealed a broader truth. Authorities seem to take notice only after disasters occur. And for the officers who refuse to answer my questions, I will continue chasing the story. This cycle of repeated denials has changed my inner core forever.

Abhishek Bhatia is a correspondent with the Gurugram bureau, who covers crime, traffic, and road safety.