The Indian Mujahideen terrorists who set off the deadly twin blasts in Hyderabad on Thursday, may have spent less than Rs 600 on each of the bombs that killed 16 people and caused damage to property worth crores of rupees.

Worse, they may have just bought most of the raw material by coolly walking across to the corner hardware store! The most vital part of the bomb, ammonium nitrate, is sold in many shops as a fertiliser. The chemical compound, when mixed with a hydrocarbon (fuel), makes a potent explosive mixtureu00a0
According to experts probing the blasts, it is next to impossible to prevent a terrorist from stocking up on all the raw materials. This is not the first time ammonium nitrate has been used in a terror attack either. It was found at the Pune bomb blast site (August 2012), during the triple blasts in Mumbai (Opera House, Dadar and Zaveri Bazar in July 2011), at the German bakery blast site in Pune (February 2010) and in the serial blasts in Jaipur in 2008.
Is it possible to regulate the sale of ammonium nitrate?