New Delhi: The powerful explosion outside a CRPF school in Delhi’s Rohini on October 20 that triggered a security scare in the national capital was caused by a burning cigarette butt thrown at industrial waste at a garbage dump site by a man who was walking his dog, investigators have found.
Delhi Police and central intelligence agencies investigating the recent explosion have, based on circumstantial evidence, ruled out any “terror angle” for now, Indian Express has reported.
The blast occurred at 7:47 am on October 20, near the CRPF School in Prashant Vihar of Rohini Sector 14. The loud explosion prompted a rapid response from police, a bomb squad, and the fire brigade.
Police had suspected Khalistani link
Initially thought to be caused by a crude bomb, the explosion damaged a school wall and shattered the windows of a nearby parked car. It triggered a security scare in Delhi as cops suspected a Khalistani link in the explosion after a channel on Telegram messaging platform claimed it was an attack carried out in retaliation to the “targetted killing of Sikh separatists”.
This came amid the India-Canada diplomatic row over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, further intensifying the gravity of the incident and prompting a multi-agency probe including the National Security Guards (NSG) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Dumped chemicals caused the blast
After examining the site, forensic experts noted traces of potassium chlorate, hydrogen peroxide, and electrical wires among the debris.
The report quoted a senior police official as saying that Delhi Police is consulting forensic and technical experts of the NSG to ascertain the identity of all the traces and substances found from the blast spot. A report is yet to be submitted. Notably, no detonator has been found from the site, which suggests that it may have be an accidental explosion.
