The initial probe into the suicide bomb attack at Lethpora has revealed that the bomber “drove an RDX-laden car which he detonated barely a meter away from a CRPF vehicle,” a top CRPF officer told Greater Kashmir Friday.
The officer, who wished not to be named, said it is not 100 percent clear what kind of explosives were used by the attacker, “But initial leads suggest that it was high quality RDX.”
“The quantity of RDX used by the militant seems to be more than expected,” the officer, privy to the probe, said.
“Not a SUV, but a car, most probably a Maruti or a Swift, was used by the Jaish-e-Muhammad militant Adil Dar of Kakapora, Pulwama. He had come on the right side of the convoy and closer to one of the vehicles and detonated the car. Given the intensity of the explosion, it seems high-quality RDX was used by the militant. The vehicle that came under the direct influence of the attack went up several meters above the ground,” the officer said.
Though the samples collected by the police, CRPF and the National Investigation Agency from the site of the attack have been sent for forensic examination, security agencies investigating the case are putting in extra efforts to find out “who the owner of the vehicle is and/or whether it (car) was a stolen one”.
“It is also being looked into where from such a huge quantity of RDX came and where the car was fitted with the explosive material,” said another officer of the CRPF, who is part of the investigations.
He said that Lethpora attack was a “cause of concern”.
Asked about samples sent to forensic examination, he said: “Bloodstains, remnants of the vehicle (the main target), tissue samples of slain CRPF men, some metallic pieces of vehicle etc. have been sent for the forensic examination. Things will be clear in a week’s time as to what kind of explosive material was used by the suicide attacker.”