The gift box containing the bomb.

RAJKOT: An owner of a private school in Upleta town, around 85 km from Rajkot, got the scare of his life when a gift he received in courier turned out to be a bomb that was powerful enough to bring down a two-storey building.

On Wednesday, the police and bomb disposal squad destroyed the bomb, which was sent as a 'gift pack' to Vallabh Dobaria, who runs Krishna Shaikshanik School in Upleta town. Dobaria (48) had received the gift-wrapped parcel on October 13 with a letter that instructed him to open it in the presence of his family members on Sunday (October 14) and then place the idol in his house temple.

As Dobaria was busy on Sunday and Monday, he opened the parcel at his house adjacent to the school on Tuesday evening, only to find a bomb fixed with a small idol of god.

"There were eight gelatin sticks, nine detonators, a battery, a wire and a switch in the bomb. If the switch was pressed accidentally, the bomb could have gone off. We took the bomb in an open secluded place behind the school and destroyed it through detonation," said R B Parmar, Rajkot sub-inspector, bomb disposal squad.

Rajkot superintendent of police (SP) Balram Meena said they had to detonate the bomb as its pressure mechanism was such that there were chances of explosion during the diffusing process.

"The bomb was strong enough to destroy everything in 100-feet radius. It could raze a two-story house to the ground," he said.

Police said that the sender's plan was to eliminate Dobaria along with his family. "It appears that the sender had an old enmity with Dobaria and he wanted to take revenge. The parcel was sent with a fake ID. No person whose name was on the parcel had ever studied in Dobaria's school,' said MN Rana, Rajkot special operation group (SOG) inspector

