A low-intensity bomb placed below the fuel tank of the motorbike of the Madurai Muslim United Jamad’s secretary exploded in the wee hours of Friday in Nelpettai here.
According to police, though the battery powered-bomb was placed below the parked two-wheeler’s fuel tank, the early morning incident could cause only little damage. As it was second such kind of bomb blasts within 100 metres of the same area in Nelpettai in the last five months, several fear-struck residents have started to migrate from Nelpettai to other areas. In fact, residents of other areas have stopped marrying their daughters to men in Nelpettai, residents said. A Kajah Moideen (40) of the Sungam Pallivasal street, secretary of both the Madurai Muslim United Jamad and the local Sungam mosque, had been parking his motorbike in front of his cousin brother’s (Sikkander) house, who was also his partner in the iron workshop business. At around 5 am, a big loud noise was heard from near the house, and as it was prayer time, a large mob surrounded the house 30 feet away from the Sungam mosque where, police sources said. The blast damaged a few parts of the bike including ‘side cover’ where the battery was placed. The perpetrators would have used explosives of potassium nitrate wrapped with jute threads and a battery and wire to produce the fire, a police officer said. “As the explosive was less powerful, it did not damage the petrol tank. Had the fire entered the tank, the impact would have been much more as another motorbike was parked by the damaged one,” he added. In last November a more powerful blast was executed in the car of M Akbar Ali (58), who was the treasurer of the Sungam mosque. During investigation, police found that internal rivalry among the mosque authorities was the reason for the crime but police have not yet been able to crack the case.
Secretary Kajah Moideen said the people in the area were united and were ready to support a proper investigation.