BENGALURU: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) and other central agencies have joined the investigation into the recovery of gelatin sticks along a route used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s convoy on Kanakapura Road, in Kaggalipura police station limits on Sunday morning. The agencies are also probing the hoax threat call received by police ahead of the PM’s visit to the city.
PM Modi had visited HAL in Bengaluru and the Art of Living centre in Bengaluru South district where he had attended the inauguration of the Dhyan Mandir on Sunday. Before his arrival at the AoL centre, a packet containing gelatin sticks was found by a police constable.
The discovery of explosives has raised serious questions about security arrangements ahead of a high-profile visit.
On Monday morning, an NIA team visited the spot and collected primary details from Bengaluru South police. It is also learnt that teams from the National Security Guard (NSG), Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), central intelligence agencies, state intelligence department and officials of the Internal Security Division (ISD) inspected the spot and are probing the matter.
Senior officials are reviewing possible security lapses, analysing CCTV footage and studying local intelligence inputs to determine how the package came to be placed along a route that had ostensibly been cleared ahead of Modi’s visit.
Kaggalipura police registered an FIR under the Explosive Substances Act.
Gelatin: Police analysing CCTV footage
In the complaint, constable Jagadish Doddamani of Kodihalli police station, stated that around 7am Sunday, he was on bandobast duty in Sector 1A near a mud road, adjacent to a forest area close to Kanakapura Road. While conducting routine checks of suspicious persons, vehicles and objects around 9.45am, he noticed a suspicious ziplock plastic cover lying in a vacant area, approximately 20 feet away from the roadside near the forest compound. Upon closer inspection, police found a cardboard box wrapped with tape inside the plastic cover. The box allegedly contained around six stick-like objects resembling gelatin sticks, along with wires, matchsticks, empty containers, and tape material, the FIR stated.
The constable alerted senior officers. Subsequently, the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) and explosive disposal experts were informed. Inspections were carried out in the nearby area for more than 30 minutes.
Police said they are analysing CCTV footage and examining whether the explosive materials were intentionally placed or had accidentally fallen. City Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh told reporters that police had received a threat call on Sunday morning, with the caller claiming to have planted an explosive in the area, before switching off his phone. However, police traced the suspect, Lohith (40), within hours using technical surveillance and took him into custody. Responding to a question about the accused’s mental health condition, the commissioner said doctors were examining him and police were also verifying his medical records. Investigation is under way.
