Overview
- During security sanitisation before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s May 10 visit, a constable found a packet with two gelatin sticks and crude electronic parts near the convoy route, and bomb-disposal teams secured the item before the convoy proceeded.
- Forensic analysis submitted to police reported the gelatin sticks were aged, the timer was defunct and no detonator was present, leading investigators to conclude the recovered items did not form an operable explosive device.
- Superintendent of Police Srinivas Gowda ordered the suspension of a sub-inspector, an assistant sub-inspector and four constables on May 24 pending a departmental inquiry into alleged negligence during the VIP movement.
- State police have opened a wider probe that includes visits and assistance from the National Investigation Agency and the Intelligence Bureau as investigators trace how and by whom the materials were placed.
- The discovery has prompted sharp political criticism from the BJP and is likely to prompt stricter checks on VIP route sanitisation and accountability measures for officers assigned to high-security duties.