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| "We have learnt that microchips (integrated circuits), powered by batteries, were used to time the explosions," top police officials told Business Standard while deconstructing an improved explosive device (IED) that was defused and recovered near a shopping mall on Hosur Road on Saturday morning. TWISTS & TURNS
The police have not recovered mobile phones from any of the blast sites in Bangalore The live IED recovered near the shopping mall was a mixture of ammonium nitrate flurry and shrapnel connected to a microchip that was powered by a battery The IED, however, caused some high-voltage drama on the Adugodi Road which is flanked by commercial establishments The explosives packed in a cement bag were noticed by a sugarcane juice seller around 9:45 am near a tea shop on the footpath near the old check post at Madivala |
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| The officials said they had decided to rope in chip-design experts, whom they preferred not to name, to study the complexity of the technology that was used. |
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| Unlike bombings in other parts of the country where mobile phones were used, the police have not recovered mobile phones from any of the blast sites in Bangalore. The live IED recovered near the shopping mall was a mixture of ammonium nitrate flurry and shrapnel connected to a microchip that was powered by a battery. Bangalore police commissioner Shankar M Bidari said, |
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| "The IED was capable of causing a high-intensity blast. We are trying to find out why it did not explode. Experts are investigating why the embedded chip, which normally performs date-related functions, did not activate. The circuitry is being examined for missing links." |
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| The IED, however, caused some high-voltage drama on the Adugodi Road which is flanked by commercial establishments. |
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| The explosives packed in a cement bag were noticed by a sugarcane juice seller around 9:45 am near a tea shop on the footpath near the old check post at Madivala. |
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| According to police, tea shop owner Rajamani found the cement pot at an isolated place three days ago and shifted it near his shop in order to use it as chair for his customers. But alarm bells rang loud when the juice-seller noticed two wires connected to a small electric device. The police were alerted and subsequently the bomb was defused. |
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| Following this, the police intensified the search for suspicious objects across the city. Shopping malls and cinema halls, which teem with people during the weekends, ran out of business as anxiety levels increased among the residents following Friday's blasts. |
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| The police, however, expressed optimism in nabbing the culprits. Though media speculated the involvement of SIMI, HUJI, Laskhar-e-Toiba and other extremist organisations in the blasts, Bidari maintained, "It is too early to say which organisation is involved. We are at it." |
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| Meanwhile, a political blame game has commenced in the capital with the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress trading charges keeping in mind the coming Lok Sabha polls and the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike elections. |
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| While chief minister B S Yeddyurappa alleged that the blasts were part of a political conspiracy to tarnish his image, the Congress leaders alleged that the intelligence machinery had failed miserably. |
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