Hassan mixer-grinder blast accused learnt to rig explosive on internet

HASSAN: The Hassan police, who have arrested a Bengaluru resident in connection with a mixer-grinder blast at a courier shop, have produced him before court and have secured his custody for seven days. The man had sent the mixer-grinder through courier to a widow who had rejected his proposal for marriage, and had fixed two detonators in it which went off at a courier shop.

The accused Arunkumar was arrested near Nelamangala in Bengaluru on January 1. He wanted to take revenge after the Hassan resident Vasantha rejected his marriage proposal.

District Police Superintendent Hariram Shankar said at a press conference on Wednesday,” Anupkumar learnt how to fix the electric detonator in the mixer by browsing the internet. According to our preliminary investigation, he went to a quarry area in Ramanagara district and and procured two detonators from there. But we are yet to establish whether he purchased the detonators or stole them”.

The courier shop in Hassan where the mixer-grinder blast occurred, injuring the shop owner.

Anupkumar couriered the parcel on December 16 to Vasantha, which was delivered to her house. However, she returned it to the courier firm and abandoned the package there itself. The mixer-grinder exploded on December 26 when the owner Shashi plugged it in to check whether it was in working condition, leaving him badly injured.

Anupkumar, who had been tracking ID of the courier parcel, also looked up the internet for news about the blast. The police have recovered wires from Anup’s house which he used to fix the detonator. A third mixer-grinder jar also found at his house in Talaghattapura.

During questioning, Anupkumar confessed that he had planned to take revenge on the woman for rejecting his marriage proposal.

“The police have booked him under Section 307 for attempt to murder and Section 34 of the Explosives Act. Depending on the nature of the injury caused due to the explosion, he may get life term or even death sentence. Anup Kumar is married and has two children, but was staying with his brother. He worked as a commission agent in real estate dealings and has no permanent source of income”, the SP said.

Hassan SP Hariram Shankar and (right) the accused Anupkumar.

“In a video, Anupkumar showed a huge vessel filled with cash and points to two cookers, one of 20 litres capacity and another of 12 litres capacity, filled with what he says are “raw gold pebbles”. He also points to some gold bars and says all those are for Vasantha. Anup tried to lure her by showing these things. But all items in the videos are fake. In the cooker was gold coated stones which are kept in aquariums. He coloured bundles of papers to make Vasantha believe that it was cash, but later he burnt it”.

Fake gold pebbles, coated gold bars and fake coloured papers.

“Based on on call records, we came to know that Anupkumar transferred a total of Rs 10,000 to Rs 13,000 to Vasantha’s account, but she had returned all of it. Even her son had warned Anupkumar to keep away and refused to accept the money”, the SP said.

Further, he said, “We have gathered enough evidence to prove that Anupkumar acted alone. Moreover, he has confessed that it was a clear attempt to murder. There is no connection to any sort of terror activity, it is a purely personal dispute”.