New Delhi, September 18
Why didn't the bomb planted in the car used during the 2001 Parliament attack not explode? This question still puzzles convicted terrorist Afzal Guru, according to a 180-page manuscript by a Tihar Jail Superintendent.

"Had the December 2001 terrorist attack on Parliament been a success, then they (terrorists) would have made Jammu and Kashmir an international issue and would have entered into negotiations with the government" Guru, key accused in the 2001 Parliament terror attack case, is said to have told Manoj Diwvedi, Superintendent of Tihar Jail Number 3. They even had names of people in their minds whom they would want to negotiate with, says Diwvedi, who has been refused permission by the Tihar authorities to publish the book.

Divided into six chapters, this document starts with the attack itself and the first chapter tells the nitty-gritty of all that happened on December 13. It ends when Guru, on death row, is finally arrested by the police, Diwvedi said.

"They (attackers) were very confident that the car fitted with the improvised explosive device would go off. Guru told me that they had parked the car fitted with bombs and explosives in front of a police station the night before the attack fearing that it might be stolen. Surprisingly, no policeman bothered to check it."

The manuscript has been compiled after 200 hours of conversation between Diwvedi and Afzal Guru between March 2009 and December 2010. In one of the chapter, the jail officer also talks about Afzal's childhood and how he reached Pakistan.

"In my book, I have mentioned all the reasons stated by Afzal for shifting to Pakistan and undergoing training as other terrorists did. He came back and realised that he was being used and decided to give up terrorism and lead a normal life. Afzal had completed his first year in MBBS. He even tried for the IES exam," says Diwvedi.

The book also gives reasons why Guru, whose Brahmin family converted to Islam generations ago, returned to the anti-national fold.

"One chapter is dedicated to Afzal Guru and how he carried out the planning for the attack, how they got the explosives, the RDX grenade, the Chinese pistol and other things without being caught," Diwvedi says. — PTI

• A car fitted with an IED was parked in front of a police station the night before the Parliament attack. No cop checked it
• Terrorists wanted to make Kashmir an international issue and enter into negotiations with the Centre after the attack