Grenades shown as proof against Liyaqat had no igniters,says NIA

The NIA had sought the BSFs help in dismantling the grenades.

In March,after the Delhi Police arrested Liyaqat Ali Shah from the India-Nepal border,it cited the seizure of arms,ammunition and grenades from a guesthouse in the Jama Masjid area as evidence that he was planning a suicide attack in the capital. But the National Investigation Agency (NIA),which is probing the case,has found that two of the three hand grenades that were reportedly seized were safe as they did not have any igniter set. The two grenades are of Indian make.

The NIA had sought the BSFs help in dismantling the grenades. The two grenades were found to be safe in all respects, said the BSF in its report. The grenades were tested at the BSF firing range in Bhondsi,Haryana,where experts found that two had no igniter set to trigger an explosion.

Sources said the two grenades,with a 434 marking,were of Indian make,and were probably manufactured in 1991. The third grenade was found to be of foreign make without any marking on the body. This grenade was destroyed by BSF officials.

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NIA officials,however,maintained that terrorists have been known to hide the igniter sets separately. The NIA has sent the two grenades and the samples collected from the third grenade to the CFSL for further tests.

While the Delhi Police had claimed that Liyaqat was a Hizbul Mujahideen militant,the Jammu and Kashmir Police and the Intelligence Bureau had maintained that he was a reformed militant who was returning from Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) as part of the J&K governments amnesty scheme. Liyaqat was released on bail in May.

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