At Rs 150 a piece, gelatin stick is cheap bomb in Gujarat

AHMEDABAD: The recent incident in which a man killed his wife’s lover using a speaker packed with gelatin sticks has brought to light the illegal use of the explosive material for suicide and to exact revenge. In recent times, there have been at least half a dozen cases where gelatin sticks, available easily in Gujarat’s border and hilly regions for mining and digging wells, were used for criminal purposes.
Sub-inspector Jitendra Rabari of Vadali police said that the May 2 incident in Sabarkantha's Veda village was not the first where gelatin sticks were used for murder.

Jitendra Vanzara, 32, and his 12-year-old daughter Bhumika were killed, and two others critically injured in a blast that took place after Jitendra plugged in a speaker that he had received in a parcel, into an electrical socket.
Investigations revealed that a man named Jayanti Vanzara, whose wife was having an extra marital affair with Jitendra had executed the murder by packing the speaker with gelatin sticks.
In the first week of April, a labourer from Rajasthan, upset over his wife’s affair with another man, blew himself up using gelatin sticks, said Rabari. “In the middle of the night, the drunk man called up his girlfriend telling her would kill himself. He was skilled at digging wells using explosives and hence had access to gelatin sticks. He wrapped some around his chest, sat down holding a large stone and triggered the blast using his cellphone battery,” said Rabari.
Rabari said the rocky and hilly region in Sabarkantha which shares its boundary with Rajasthan often witnesses use of gelatin sticks to trigger blasts for digging wells or for mining. “These gelatin sticks are available easily for around Rs 150 to Rs 200 a piece. A person wishing to acquire them just needs to present a letter from the village sarpanch listing the purpose. While the district collector’s licence is mandatory for sellers, no such permit is needed for purchase. Just the sarpanch’s seller suffices. Sometimes, this explosive is acquired without furnishing any letter,” explained said Rabari.
Inspector A V Rathod of Local Crime Branch, Sabarkantha police said that at least half a dozen incidents of blasts have taken place since 2008 where gelatin sticks were used as explosives with the purpose to kill. At least four have died and two injured, whereas one gelatin bomb received in a Bhavnagar school in 2018 was defused.