RDX bomb found at CST after a week

MUMBAI: Exactly a week after two terrorists gunned down 54 people at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) station, the railway police recovered an RDX bomb kept by them in the parcel room, near the waiting room for outstation trains. The bomb, in a red-andblack bag, was kept along with the baggage left behind by the victims of the attack, most of them migrants from north India.

The bomb was found around 6pm, minutes after chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had left after spending half an hour inspecting the scene of the terror attack. Ironically, he had issued a press statement in the evening saying that topmost priority would be given to the security of big railway stations like CST.

The bomb was similar to the ones found and defused near Taj Hotel and Gokul Restaurant, the bomb squad said. The timers of these bombs could be set for a minimum of eight minutes and 32 seconds to 194 days. It is not known why the CST bomb did not explode or what time it was set for. Had the bomb, which contained 8.5 kg of RDX, gone off, it would have caused major damage to life and property.

The discovery of the bomb raises questions about the interrogation of Ajmal Kasav, the terrorist taken alive. He was one of the two terrorists who sprayed bullets at CST station after entering it from the area where the bomb was kept. In fact, Rakesh Maria, joint commissioner of the crime branch, which is investigating the terror attack, was unaware of the discovery of the bomb.

The bomb was noticed while railway personnel were distributing baggage left behind by victims of the attack to claimants . The 150-odd bags were kept on the first floor of the parcel office, just outside the platforms for long-distance trains.