Is the pressure cooker theory of the police a farce?

By Neil Joshi
December 17, 2006

The much tom tommed brouhaha by the anti terrorist squad (ATS) claiming that the bomb planters had installed explosives in ISI marked pressure cookers to carry out incendiary operations in the local suburban trains on July 11, may just be a farce if the confessional statements of the eleven accused are to be believed.

The bombs were manufactured at Mohammed Ali Alam Shaikh’s Govandi residence and the accused had used household materials for the improvised explosive devices. However, in the final phase of the manufacturing these house appliances were not used. So far, except for the three handles of the pressure cooker recovered from the site no other parts of the cookers were found. According to the police press briefing, around two kilograms of RDX and four kilograms of ammonium nitrate were concealed in each pressure cooker.

So far, including the so called prime accused of the blast case, Mohammed Faisal Ataur Rehman Shaikh, has categorically stated in his statement that the explosive material were kept in seven bags and not in any pressure cookers. Similarly, another accused Ehtesham Siddqui in his confessional statement said, “Bomb wali bag takriban 17.15 (hours), Churchgate se chhoottnewali Virar train ke first class dabbeme saaman rakhneke rackper rakhne ko kaha.” (I was told to keep the bag on the luggage rack of the first class compartment of the Virar bound train scheduled to leave from Churchgate at 17.15 hours.)

In the same tenor, the statement made by other accused in the serial train bomb blast case, echo the same description. Sajid Magroob mentions in his confessional statement that on the evening of July 10, 2006, when the bombs were made they were packed in seven different bags and were taken to Faisal Shaikh’s residence at Bandra by Mohammed Ali, Naved and Faisal himself.

During the initial courses of investigation, the Mumbai Police themselves had claimed that the bombs were planted in the bags and suddenly after the arrests during the press briefing went on to rake up the pressure cooker theory. Enquiries revealed that just two days before the scheduled press briefing in Mumbai, city police commissioner Anami Roy along with ATS chief K.P. Raghuvanshi flew down to Delhi to discuss the case with the chiefs of Intelligence Bureau and Cabinet Secretariat (Special Bureau.) The discussion veered towards the linking of serial train bomb blasts case with the Varanasi bomb blasts.

In the Varanasi bomb blasts, explosive experts came to a conclusion that bombs were planted in pressure cookers and in a bid to weave a common strand, ATS also went ahead and pompously pronounced, “ Bombs were planted in five litre pressure cookers,” never realising that they may be forced to eat crow when the confessional statements are made public. Meanwhile, the accused have already retracted their confessional statements and have repeatedly mentioned to the MCOCA Judge M.R. Bhatkar that they have been framed in this case.