MADURAI: An alert villager saved the life of BJP leader L K Advani by spotting a six-foot-long ‘pipe bomb’, weighing 7.5 kg, planted under a road bridge at Alampatti near Thirumangalam, over which the Jan Chetna Ratha Yatra was scheduled to pass through from Madurai to Srivilliputhur on Friday. The 49-year-old villager, M Selvaraj of Alampatti, said: “When I went to collect firewood near the Kavunda bridge around 6.30 am, I saw an electric wire passing underneath the bridge which was connected to a six feet long plastic pipe. I immediately alerted the panchayat union councillor Selvam.” A special police team rushed to the spot following an alert from the villagers and defused the explosive and then diverted the yatra on an alternative route through Kalikudi, Virudhunagar and Sivakasi.Police sources said that police personnel assigned to keep a watch on the area near the bridge had not arrived for duty at that time. “Police carried the pipe with the explosives and defused it near a pool of stagnant water,” said Pandi of Alampatti, who was among hundreds of villagers gathered near the bridge. An empty pipe of the same length was also found nearby. A wire connected to the explosive led to a battery hidden 150 metres away from the bridge. Thirumangalam DSP Ravichandran said it was too early to say who could have planted the bomb, while a senior police officer in Chennai said they suspected the involvement of the supporters of terrorist Imam Ali, who was killed in an encounter in 2002, as the same group is alleged to have planted a crude bomb in a government bus in Madurai on September 29, 2011, two days after the death anniversary of Ali.Police are also examining a poster against Advani by Islamic outfits close to the Periyar Bus stand here, where he addressed a public meeting on Thursday.Police sources said it was the third incident of crude bombs in Madurai this year and fourth incident in the last two years. Advani didn’t comment on the issue while addressing people en-route to Kerala.
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