Ahead of Republic Day, alert flower seller prevents blast in Delhi market

The Delhi police successfully defused a time bomb at the busy Gazipur flower market in east Delhi on Friday morning (January 14).

Police said the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was aimed at “causing maximum damage”, considering the place would have soon been teeming with farmers, shopkeepers and buyers.

The suspect reached the market on a scooty around 9.30 am. He parked the vehicle in front of a flower seller and left, pretending to buy flowers from a shop nearby. A flower seller got suspicious about the abandoned scooty with a bag and called the police.

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The Delhi police called a squad of National Security Guard (NSG), which confirmed the presence of IED. The team then carried out a controlled explosion in an eight-foot deep pit, specially dug close by to defuse the bomb. Earlier, the Delhi police vacated the market and cordoned off the place where the controlled blast was carried out.

Police suspect it was a terror attempt ahead of the Republic Day. Initial probe shows that the explosive is a nitrate and RDX mix and weighed about 3 kilos. The triggering device could be a clock or a mobile phone.

CCTV footage is being looked at to identify the suspects.