Chennai: At a time when the State is under high alert following an alleged terrorists infiltration, a bizarre explosion at a temple in Kanchipuram which killed two and injured four has shocked the locality.
According to sources, yesterday, some people at Gangai Amman temple in Manamathi village in Tiruporur, Kanchipuram temple found a mysterious object among the discarded ones and went to inspect it. The explosion took place after they tried to open it forcibly.
The deceased were identified as Suriya (22) Gundumanicheri, Koovathur and Dileep Raghavan (25), an electrician from Tiruporur. The injured persons, Jayaram (25), Yuvaraj (23), Thirumal (24) and Vishvanathan (22) have been admitted to Chengalpet Government Hospital.
Sources said, the six men had gathered behind the temple to celebrate Dileep’s birthday. At 12 pm, they had cut a cake. They then found the discarded object and tried to open it when the blast occurred.
The bomb squad was trying to ascertain the kind of explosive device had gone off though initial reports had suggested that it was the kind used by the Army, reports said.
Kanchipuram Superintendent of Police, Kannan visited the place and team of police thoroughly inspected the temple. The team also searched the houses of all six men.
The incident left the temple walls damaged. It is said that the object is used in army cannons and also has a serial number.
Further inquiries were carried out using the number. It is suspected it could belong to the Hanumanthapuram army training centre nearby.
Since 23 August, the State has been on a red alert following intelligence inputs that six terrorists belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba have made their way in Coimbatore.
However, dismissing rumours of terror angle, following preliminary investigations, police officials stressed that there is no connection between the current terror alert in the State and the Tiruporur incident. Officials stated that the temple and the pond were cleaned recently by residents and some objects were discarded.