The other temptation for investigators here is that potassium chlorate was used in Samjhauta (Central agencies say there was no RDX while Haryana forensics is said to have claimed presence of RDX traces), placed in a suitcase with a similar arming device as found in Mecca Masjid and Ajmer but filled with fuel bottles to give an incendiary effect. The explosion was not big, but as is known the fire caused by the fuel bottles is what killed people. Most of the wounded had burn injuries.

Potassium chlorate is used commonly in fire crackers and here is where the accidental explosion in Nanded in 2006 assumes relevance. Scores of fire crackers were found from the spot and several of them were empty cases where the powder from inside had been removed and stored separately. A few days later, pipes with explosive went off in Jama Masjid. It was of low intensity and crude, but one of the first bombs in the second category to be used.

More interestingly, on Nanded, the interrogation account available with agencies reveals that the two men, who were killed, had removed the circuit of a remote controlled toy and were trying to see if it works by way of a remote control. In fact, one of the survivors feared that he was switching channels on a television remote and that, perhaps, triggered the explosive. The Nanded bombs were, in fact, meant for a mosque in Aurangabad, said sources.

This was 2006 and a year later, a cellular phone was used as a remote trigger in Mecca Masjid even though the explosive used for a mix of RDX and TNT.

... contd.