Serial blasts shatter peace in Ahmedabad
A day after nine blasts rocked Bangalore, terror turned westwards to engineer as many as 17 blasts in Ahmedabad, killing at least 17 people and leaving 100 injured.
By ET Bureau |
AHMEDABAD: A day after nine blasts rocked Bangalore, terror turned westwards to engineer as many as 17 blasts in Ahmedabad, killing at least 17 people and leaving 100 injured. Unconfirmed reports of more blasts were still coming in at the time of filing this report. Gujarat, the country���s manufacturing hub and the state which tops in domestic investments, was put on alert after Friday���s blasts in Bangalore. The serial blasts took place between 6.45 pm and 7.30 pm.
Bearing a striking resemblance to Bangalore serial blasts ��� low intensity bombs mostly strapped on to bicycles and two-wheelers ��� the explosions were clearly aimed at disrupting life in crowded areas, affecting the economic activity in general.
A Cabinet meeting was called by chief minister Narendra Modi in the evening to take stock of the situation. According to preliminary reports, the bombs went off one after another across Maninagar, Thakkar Bapanagar, Sarangpur, Isnapur, Raipur, Narol, Khadia and Sarkhej within a span of 45 minutes. The blasts were also targeted at city hospitals, LG Hospital and the trauma centre of the Civil Hospital, where the injured were admitted. There were also reports of live bombs in the Civil Hospital.
The target of the terror attacks was the crowded old city areas on the eastern side of Sabarmati. At least one blast was reported in the western side of the city at Sarkhej. The most-affected area was Bapunagar and Thakkar Bappanagar, home to many diamond units, where as many as six people were killed and over 50 injured.
The blast was right outside the Sardar Patel Diamond Market (Bapunagar). One live bomb was also found in the area. In Maninagar, the constituency of chief minister Narendra Modi, the bomb was planted in a city bus. Three people reportedly died in that blast.
Khadia, the constituency of Gujarat Legislative Assembly Speaker Ashok Bhatt, too witnessed a blast. One blast took place at the parking lot of the diamond unit owned by Gordhan Zadaphia, the former home minister who allegedly played a role in the 2002 Godhra riots that killed more than 1,000 (official figure).
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Mangled remains of a bus, bicycles and motorcycles were seen at the blast sites. Eye-witness Hasmukh Patel told ET, ���I was in the Sardar Patel Diamond Market when I saw the blast around 6.50 pm. Moments after I reached a victim, I witnessed another blast in close proximity. The bombs were on bicycles.���Ahmedabad has been on the hit list of terror groups ever since 2002 riots. It began with serial bomb blasts in Ahmedabad city on May 29, 2002, when five bombs kept in tiffin boxes exploded onboard three AMTS buses in the city, injuring 12 passengers, followed by an attack on the Akshardham Temple (just opposite the chief minister���s official residence in Gandhinagar) on September 24, 2002.
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