Pics by Rons Bantwal
Daijiworld Media Network

THANE, Jun 4: Four days after a low-intensity blast at a nearby theatre, explosives went off on Wednesday in the parking lot of an auditorium here this evening leaving seven persons injured.

Wrapped in a plastic bag, the explosives, whose nature was not immediately known, went off the at the parking lot of Gadkari Rangayatan at 1610 hours, Police Commissioner Anil Dhere said.

"It is definitely a deliberate act of mischief though the intensity was not big," Dhere said.

The bag was found lying unclaimed at the spot and some theatre employees went near it to check its contents when it exploded, he said.

The explosion at the theatre came within four days of a low-intensity crude bomb containing gelatin sticks being found and later defused at the Vishnudas Bhave Natyagruha in nearby Vashi.

The explosive was found at Vashi during the staging of the Marathi play "Amhi Pachpute", a satire which touches the politically hot subject of locals versus outsiders. Incidentally, a show of the same play was to begin at the auditorium this evening.

Meanwhile, Dhere said traces of some explosive powder have been found at the spot while teams from the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad and Forensic Experts are at work there.

A plaster of paris false ceiling right above the spot where the bag was kept and some tubelights have been damaged in the explosion, Dhere said, adding there has however, been no damage to the wooden structure above it.

A senior police officer said small iron nails were also kept as sharpnel material inside the explosive
A majority of the injured are auditorium employees. While three of them have been discharged after getting treatment, Dhere said.

The number of vehicles parked at the spot was less today as it was a weekeday, Dhere said.

A bicycle was also found parked nearby, he said, clarifying that it was not used to trigger the explosions.

Sharpnel was not used in the bomb which was planted at Vashi leading the investigators to suspect that it was an amateur's job. The defused bomb was found wrapped around in an issue of Shiv Sena's mouthpiece "Saamna".

Gadkari Rangayatan is located in the heart of Thane city on the banks of the scenic Masunda Lake.

A team from the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad has also reached the spot to carry out parallel investigations in the matter, Shukla said.

Meanwhile, a senior ATS official said small iron nails generally used in footwear manufacturing were also used in the explosive as sharpnel. Some of the injured have sustained injuries due to the use of sharpnel while some nails have also been found at spot, he said.

Sharpnel was not used in the bomb which was planted at Vashi leading the investigators to suspect that it was an amateur's job. The defused bomb was found wrapped around in an issue of the Shiv Sena's mouthpiece "Saamna".

Number of vehicles in the parking lot of Gadkari Rangayatan, located on the banks of the Masunda Lake in the heart of the Thane city, was low today as it was a weekeday.

Dhere said that a bicycle was parked very close to the site and clarified that it was not used in the explosion.