Cops focus on 182 who walked on APJ Abdul Kalam Road

NEW DELHI: Between 3.10pm and 5.10pm on Friday, a total of 61 people had walked on one carriageway of the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road (from the Israel Embassy towards south Delhi).

On the other carriageway (from south Delhi towards the embassy), 121 people had trudged during the same time. Police suspect any one of these 182 people may have dropped an explosive device below a tree on the APJ Abdul Kalam Road outside the Israeli embassy.

A “low intensity” blast was reported outside the embassy at 5.10pm, which damaged windowpanes of at least three vehicles parked nearby. There were no casualties.

As part of their investigations into the “low-intensity explosion” outside the embassy on Friday evening, the Delhi police’s special cell has started tracing all the people who crossed the spot on the road where the explosive was placed.

A government official, who did not wish to be named, said that police have narrowed down their search on all 182 people, whose images were acquired from CCTV cameras placed on the road by Delhi police and government.

Police have also taken footage from bungalows near the Israel embassy. “We have already identified many of them. We will question everyone in the case,” said an officer.

Investigators believe one of these pedestrians may have kept the explosive device under the tree, as no suspicious vehicle stopped at the spot or near it about an hour before the explosion happened at 5.10pm.

Meanwhile, a cab driver on Friday night approached police claiming that he had dropped two passengers near the embassy before the explosion. Police have said that they verified the cab driver’s claims but found it to be a hoax. The cab driver had reportedly told police that the two passengers had taken multiple rounds of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road before getting down near the embassy.

On Saturday afternoon, teams of the crime branch and NSG visited the spot to trace forensic samples of the device used in the blast. Police have said the blast was a low-intensity explosion and said that “initial impression suggested a mischievous attempt to create a sensation.”

Police have found a cold drink can along with an envelope addressed to the ambassador. Investigating officers have found parts of a detonator that was attached to the can.

“We are collecting dump data of active cell phones from the spot. We have already found more than 7,000 cell phone active near the spot. We are looking at SIM cards that were issued recently or those that are registered in other countries,” one police officer said.

Police officers said ammonium nitrate may have been used to trigger the blast.