‘Mining explosive’ may have been used

Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 15

Security agencies are studying if explosives used in stone quarrying and mining were used in conjunction to trigger the attack on a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force near Pulwama. Sources said two types of explosives were being suspected with the one used for mining being the main explosive. 

While the RDX — a smaller quantity — is suspected to have formed the core, Super 90 was the main explosive. Similar types of explosives like the Super 90 have been seized from hideouts in South Kashmir in the past few months. The explosive is a mixture of “nitrate”.

It is suspected that the SUV that rammed into the convoy head-on was packed with a minimum of 200 kg of explosives. Had it been entirely RDX, the casualties would have been much higher and the bodies would have been blown away into smaller pieces, unlike what happened in yesterday’s blast.

Also, RDX is difficult and almost impossible to procure while Super 90 is sold through authorised outlets for mining and stone quarrying. 

With so many roads being widened in the Himalayas and tunnels being built, Super 90 is available to blast away at rocks.

Despite its availability, it would take months to pile up the 200 kg of explosives and pack it into an SUV, sources said. The explosive would have been squirreled away by terrorists and their sympathisers in small quantities from multiple locations and then aggregated at one place before being packed into a car.

Also, the suicide bomber is believed to have parked his vehicle in an alley in a small town and took out the SUV when the CRPF convoy moved closer. He avoided the quick reaction team, which was armed, and directed his SUV to the buses carrying the CRPF teams. This indicates that he had people informing him about the exact movement of the convoy.

The convoy had become huge as the Jawahar tunnel under the Banihal Pass snowed out and traffic had been piling up for five days.