“My parents often ask me why of all areas of specialization I chose bomb disposal,” says the cheerful sub-inspector who was born in Bhaktapur. “I know the risks involved. But this is what I do best, so I better stick to it.” [break]
Puri has been involved in the APF’s bomb response operations 30 times so far, of which he commandeered half.
But experience hasn’t grown him immune to the fear, jitters and painful suspense that is inherent in such operations.
Puri’s scariest moment came last October during the Dashain festival. While people were celebrating the festival with abandon, his squad was alerted of a possible bomb threat in Jadibuti, Koteshwar. It was just two days after tika.
Upon reaching the spot, Puri’s first job was assessing whether it was a real bomb threat or just a hoax. With the help of explosive detection equipment called SRTVD-8, the team identified the suspicious object as an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) loaded with TNT, which is categorized as high explosive.
Puri’s second job was ascertaining the risk perimeter and clearing people from there, which is usually the most difficult task for bomb squads in Nepal where passersby, overpowered by curiosity, often refuse to heed to warnings.
That done, Puri helped one of his colleagues wear the bomb suit that weighs 35 kilograms, and as commander approached the bomb with the colleague. Puri himself was wearing little protective gear.
“I had sinister thoughts during the entire operation. Elders say one must be careful during festivals. I was overwhelmed by a feeling that it would be my last Dashain,” said Puri.
Eventually, the team used a water-jet disrupter equipment to separate the detonator from the explosive. The whole operation lasted three hours.
“More than death, it is the fear of being maimed that grips me when I dispose a bomb,” said Puri. But after having impressed seniors in his department with his expertise and spirit, Puri wants to continue flirting with danger as he sees a career in bomb disposal.
Bomb threats have become less frequent after the end of the Maoist conflict, but then they haven’t died out entirely. The last threat call came no longer than three weeks ago when Puri and his team disposed a bomb near an APF officer’s house in Kathmandu.
A unit that few volunteer in
Deputy Superintendent of Police Benu Pathak who heads APF’s bomb squad says APF personnel are reluctant to join the unit.
“This is not surprising as bomb disposal involves high risk,” said Pathak, who has headed the unit since it was started in 2003 in response to a growing number of bomb threats. Given the risk, Pathak is surprised that there have been no casualties in his unit so far.
Pathak’s unit has responded to 63 bomb threats in the capital. It has responded to an additional 28 threats in co-ordination with the Nepal Army’s bomb squad.
“There are 25 members in my unit. And the faces generally do not change,” says Pathak who was trained on bomb disposal at the International Police Academy in Louisiana state of the United States.
In his more than five years as chief of the unit, Pathak hasn’t told his family the exact nature of his job.
“I tell them I am posted at APF headquarters. But I haven’t told them that I head the bomb squad,” said Pathak who lives in Dhapasi with his wife, 14-year-old son, seven-year-old daughter and elderly mother.
But Pathak believes his son and wife must have seen him in newspapers that printed pictures of him and his squad in action in the past.
Bomb and its disposal
The bombs planted by trouble mongers in Nepal’s public places are IEDs that are home-made bombs and not those manufactured commercially in factories.
Pathak said if one has the explosive, one can turn almost anything into a bomb. “In Nepal, we have seen unique types of bombs like bucket bombs and pressure cooker bombs,” he said.
The explosive used can be RDX, TNT, gelignite, gunpowder or commonly available chemicals like urea, or even glycerin. Except for RDX, IEDs planted in Nepal were found to contain either of these chemicals.
To build a bomb, the explosive is packed under high pressure, so that one little spark can set it off.
“It doesn’t take a lot of explosive to kill people. Just 420 grams of TNT is enough to kill all people within a 50 meter radius of the explosion epicenter,” Pathak said.
But it takes an electric spark or physical pressure generated by the detonator to set off a bomb. That is where the bomb squad’s role comes in.
Bomb disposal is simply dissociating the explosive from the detonator. And that’s also where the risk lies. A simple mistake can set off the bomb.
The squad is equipped with tools that have to be manually operated. It has Water Jet Disrupter that uses water jet to dissociate the explosive from the detonator. Another equipment is the Disrupter Cannon that is basically a pick stick used for the same purpose. The squad also has a Hook and Line set that is used to defuse bombs from a distance.
For explosive detection, the squad has SRTVD-8, and for protection bomb suits that have metal plates.
“But all these are not state-of-the-art,” said Pathak. “The bomb suit is just to assure that there is some protection. It cannot withstand a major explosion that can occur while defusing a bomb. We don’t have automatic equipment that is safer and has replaced manually operated equipment in western countries,” he said.
Pathak’s is a 24-hour-job. He has defused bombs as late or early as 1 a.m. Sometimes, he has worked for three hours on a bomb until realizing that it is just a hoax.
All it takes for some anti-social individual is to put a suspicious object in a public place and Pathak’s team hits the streets in a van on which is painted: BOMB SQUAD.
bikash@myrepublica.com
