It was an attack on the Nivaranpur branch of the RSS in Ranchi, one that’s been put under a microscope by the police after the cameras did their job. The response has been anything but muted. Some see it as a red flag; others are putting out feelers for calm and promising they’ll be on top of it.
What happened in Ranchi
Jharkhand Police say it was early hours when two lads made for the provincial RSS office with petrol bombs in hand – all of it on tape. It wasn’t until volunteers walked into the hall in the morning that they found the bottles.
Babulal Marandi, the opposition leader, puts the time of the incident at 12.36am. His version is that the men showed up in a car with motorbikes in tow and let fly with two of the bombs. He says he’s made sure the district administration is aware of it.
CCTV trail and on-ground clues
Once the officials had a good look at the video, a few things became clear:
– A pair of men in the vicinity of the building
– A taxi with a yellow plate in the area
– Two bikes with them
– The throwing of two petrol bombs
– One went off in the air, the other hit the ground and broke
Officials and political leaders respond
Word got out and you could count on Union Defence Minister of State Sanjay Seth, Marandi, a number of BJP MLAs and no end of volunteers to be there. The police have the case in hand.
Seth was specific about what he saw: ‘They came in on bikes, said a few words, then tied it up and chucked a bomb. That one blew in the air. They made another run at it and threw one, but it just fell to pieces on the ground.’ He also pointed to a taxi with a yellow number plate parked at a remove.
‘The plan was to start a fire. We had vehicles and our people inside. There is a major conspiracy to make trouble in Ranchi, and thank God it has come to naught. We will not have this city or Jharkhand disturbed,’ he said.
Marandi is of the view it is a prelude to something more. ‘We have put it to the DC. This is no small matter and we want the administration to do its job.’
Why it matters beyond one site
Nerves have been a little raw of late. Back on June 10, the police in Gujarat were put on notice after some emails came in with threats of blasts in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. The correspondence even laid out a timetable for a string of explosions running to the end of September.
These were the places called out in the emails:
– The CM’s office in Gandhinagar
– The AMC headquarters in Ahmedabad
– An RSS office
In a different matter, a stone was hewn at the Shatabdi Express near Firozabad as RSS head Mohan Bhagwat was making his way to Delhi from Kanpur. It put a hole in the window of coach E1. The railway police are looking into it to see if it was on purpose or an accident, though they say no one was hurt.
Investigation and the road ahead
With the CCTV as their guide, the police are piecing together the story of the Ranchi attack. As of Wednesday, the scene was still being watched over and the full picture was only coming into focus after the video was seen.
You can take it from the top brass and the politicians that order will be kept. Seth is firm on the fact that any plot to cause a ruckus will be nipped in the bud, and Marandi is on to the administration to handle it with some speed.
Now it is down to the investigators to back up what is on the screen and put a face to the men at the office. The line from the political side is plain: stay put, be on guard, and let the process play out.
