Another IED haul in Siliguri, cops suspect serial blast plan

All the IEDs were attached to timer devices and were armed, police sources said about the latest seizures.

Significantly, this time too the explosives were hauled from a rented accommodation.

“They contained ball bearings intended to act as splinters upon explosion. The raid was conducted at a rented house in Gurung Basti, but no arrests have been made,” said Darjeeling Superintendent of Police Rahul Srivastav.

All the IEDs were packed in “pan masala” tins and were made from high quality plastic explosive.

The chain of seizure began after a bomb blast at a rented apartment on April 3 that killed three people and injured one. The fourth injured member was arrested while trying to escape to Nepal. His interrogation revealed that all four had come from different UN-aided refugee camps in Nepal set up for Nepali refugees formerly settled in Bhutan. The intelligence sources now say that the seized explosives could be a series of planned strikes by Nepal Maoists. Security agencies are, however, yet to establish if the bombs and explosives were meant to be used in terror attacks on Indian soil or in Bhutan.

On April 3, the police had recovered two bombs with timers and detonators from the blast site. Four cellphone SIM cards were also found of which three were of Indian mobile service provider and one Nepalese.

According to Srivastav, the police have since then launched a drive to check out the antecedents of tenants living in the town in rented accommodations.