Terror struck Ahmedabad when 16 coordinated serial blasts ripped through the city on Saturday night killing 38 people and injuring nearly 90 sending a wave of panic, a day after multiple explosions rocked Bangalore in another BJP-ruled state.
Fourteen crowded areas in the Gujarat capital including market places were hit in the synchronised “low-intensity” explosions in a space of 60 to 70 minutes after the first blast hit Maninagar at 6.45 pm. The bombs placed in tiffin boxes were strapped on to bicycles. Some of the blast sites were in sensitive areas in the old city but the situation was peaceful as the night wore on.
Apart from the 38 dead, 90 people were injured in the coordinated blasts on Saturday in various places here including two hospitals, they said, adding that the toll is expected to rise.
The injured are admitted in several hospitals including Vadilal Sarabhai Hospital, Civil Hospital and LG Hospital.
Terrorists triggered 16 serial blasts in a span of 60 to 70 minutes on Saturday evening in crowded market areas of the city leaving at least 38 dead and over 90 injured.
The areas where the blasts occurred were at Maninagar, Isanpur, Narol circle, Bapunagar, Hatkeshwar, Sarangpur bridge, Sarkhej, Odhav, Sardar Patel market, Civil hospital, Juhapura, Ambur tower building, Raipur and Gowribhadi.
President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the blasts. Union home minister Mr Shivraj Patil convened a high-level meeting for tomorrow morning to review the security situation across the country.
Mr Modi, who confirmed the casualty figure, condemned the blasts and appealed for calm.
His party leader and MP for Gandhinagar, Mr LK Advani, blamed the Centre for the rise in terror activities but refused to draw conclusions about two BJP-ruled states Gujarat and Karnataka being targeted in a row. Home secretary Mr Madhukar Gupta said in New Delhi that National Security Guards were being rushed to Ahmedabad where RAF personnel were already deployed.
The Ahmedabad blasts came a day after multiple explosions in Bangalore where Karnataka police suspected the involvement of the banned Simi in yesterday’s serial blasts as it defused a live bomb secreted in a cement flowerpot near a shopping mall in the posh Koramangla area.
E-mail
Meanwhile, an e-mail sent to several media groups, just minutes before the serial blasts, by the Indian Mujahideen terror group has been traced to a flat in Navi Mumbai’s Sanpada area.
The police have raided the flat and seized computer hard disks and other material. The owner of the house, Abhishek Sharma had rented the house to an American national, who claimed during the interrogation that his e-mail had been hacked to send the threat mail.
The Union Home Ministry said the Indian Mujahideen group needs to be probed further as it is the same outfit which had sent a threat e-mail claiming responsibility for the Jaipur blasts.
