Mysterious explosion on court premises triggers panic

LUCKNOW: Panic gripped the district and sessions court premises here after a mysterious explosion took place in a washroom on the first floor of the district judge building here in Wazirganj locality on Wednesday afternoon.

Police officials, including AntiTerror Squad (ATS) and Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS), were rushed to the site immediately but no traces of explosive substance were found during extensive checking on the premises.

The explosion took place around 4 pm when thousands of lawyers, judges and visitors were present on the campus.

The police, however, confirmed that no one got injured.

“I was present with my client in a room close to the washroom when the explosion took place. I rushed towards it but returned after spotting smoke all around,” said advocate Rohit Kant Srivastava.

He said the lawyers initially suspected it to be a cracker blast carried out by some mischief makers.

He said the incident should be probed and security checks at the court should be intensified considering 2007 serial blasts in district courts in Lucknow, Faizabad and Varanasi. “The preliminary probe suggested that the explosion took place in the washroom’s flush tank which had blown into pieces,” said Deepak Kumar, senior superintendent of police (SSP).

He said the reason behind the explosion was not clear yet as no explosive content was found from the site.

The ATS suspected that the flush tank would have exploded due to formation of some gas inside it.

The SSP said the bomb disposal and dog squads sanitized the court premises but nothing suspicious was found.

He said a team of forensic experts have also collected samples from the washroom and it will be sent to Agra Forensic Science Laboratory for detailed examination.

He said that though the security arrangements on the court premises was up to the mark, further review is being done in view of the incident.