Special team to probe car bomb blast in Malappuram Collectorate

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Wednesday said in the Assembly that a special team led by DySP (Narcotic cell) has been constituted to probe the low intensity blast that took place from a car parked on the premises of Malappuram Collectorate.

“A team led by DySP P.T Balan will probe into the incident,” said Pinarayi.

A very low intensity Improvised Explosive Device (IED) went off in a car parked near the Judicial First Class Magistrate court inside the civil station on Tuesday, but no one was injured.

"A very low intensity IED was used to trigger the blast", Director General of Police Loknath Behera said.

Asked if Kerala police was viewing it a terrorist act, the DGP said some pamphlets and a picture of al-Qaeda leader Osama-Bin Laden had been recovered from the spot.

Behera said had also spoken to a central agency.

The blast was similar to the one at the court premises at Chittoor on April 7 in Andhra Pradesh and Mysuru in Karnataka on August 1, he said.

An explosion had also occurred in Kollam civil station on June 15 this year near a court complex, in which one person was injured.

Malappuram District Police chief Debesh Kumar Behera said that as the blast occurred, there was a smell of ammonium in the air.

A small cardboard box with the words 'The Base Movement' on top was also recovered by police from the spot.

Today's blast occurred in a car hired by the Homeo District Medical officer (DMO), which had been parked along with some other vehicles near the court.

Malappuram district police sources said some steel pieces were found near the blast site and it is suspected that a 'Pressure cooker' was used to trigger it.