Rohini Court Blast: Arrested DRDO scientist tries to kill himself, admitted to AIIMS

New Delhi: The DRDO scientist, who was arrested by the Delhi Police's Special Cell in connection with the December 9 Rohini Court blast, on Sunday allegedly tried to commit suicide, IANS reports quoting sources.

According to the sources, arrested scientist, Bharat Bhushan Kataria, tried to consume some poisonous substance while he was in police custody, and has been admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

However, there was no official confirmation of the incident yet.

The scientist, Bharat Bhushan Kataria, had allegedly planted the bomb to kill his neighbour who is a lawyer, said police. He was arrested by the Special Cell and was being interrogated. On Saturday night, Kataria was found lying unconscious and was rushed to a nearby hospital. Quoting police sources, Indian express reported that said he is stable now.

Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana on Saturday said they had recovered a robe of the kind worn by advocates, as well as other "incriminating" evidence from Kataria, who has been with the DRDO for 20 years.

Police said Kataria and Amit Vashisht, his alleged target, lived in the same building in Ashok Vihar till three years ago and had a running dispute overuse of the common terrace. Initial investigation has shown that Vashisht had filed a criminal complaint against Kataria and, the day the blast happened, the court was to hear framing of charges which, Kataria feared, would destroy his career.

"He and Vashisht have a long-standing dispute, going back over 10 years, and have filed over a dozen civil and criminal cases against each other," DCP (Special Cell) Rajiv Ranjan Singh said.

On the day of the blast, he added, "Kataria placed a bag containing an IED behind Vashisht and triggered the IED from a safe distance with a remote".

The low-intensity blast caused minor injuries to a Delhi Police constable but not any fatalities or much damage. Forensic experts and the National Security Guard (NSG) found that the circuit of the bomb kept in a tiffin had not been assembled properly, due to which only the detonator went off and not the half kilogram ammonium nitrate-based explosives.