Terror strikes Delhi; 20 dead, several injured
Four people including a 12-year-old boy, who was a key eye-witness, was detained in connection with the blasts in Delhi. Delhi Blasts in Pics | More on Delhi Blasts
By Agencies |
| NSG commandos diffuse a bomb in Connaught Place. More |
NEW DELHI: Terror struck the Capital this evening when three crowded market areas were targetted in five synchronised blasts in rapid succession leaving at least 20 dead and 80 injured ahead of the festive season.
Bringing back memories of the pre-Diwali terror strike in Sarojini Nagar market in 2005 that left 68 dead, an explosion ripped Ghaffar market in Karol Bagh in Central Delhi where the first blast occured at around 6.15 PM.
Connaught place, about a km from Parliament, and the M Block market in posh Greater Kailash in South Delhi were hit by two blasts each. The well-coordinated explosions took place in a space of around 20 minutes.
Four people including a 12-year-old boy, who was a key eye-witness, was detained in connection with the blasts, the fourth this year after serial explosions in Jaipur, Bangalore and Ahmedabad.
The boy called Rahul, who was selling balloons in Connaught Place, told television channels that he saw two men drop a parcel into a garbage bin.
"Both were dressed in black, they were tall," he said. "They just walked up to the bin and dropped something in it and then walked away. Then there was a boom and people started shrieking."
Indian Mujahideen, a shadow amalgam of banned SIMI and Lashker-e-Taiba, claimed responsibility for the blasts through an e-mail sent to news organisations around the same time when the explosions occured. Some of the bombs were kept in garbage bins. The e-mail was traced to an Internet Protocol address in Chembur in Mumbai.
About one and a half KG of Ammonium Nitrate and steel balls were used in each of the bombs which were synchronised with an Integrated Circuit(IC).
The deadliest explosion was in Ghaffar Market, home to stores popular among wholesalers and bargain-hunters. It exploded on a street jammed with clothing shops and stores that sell cheap foreign goods. A mangled rickshaw could be seen in front of the small shop where the bomb exploded.
Police said that 16 people were killed in the Ghaffar market blast. Four lives were lost in the twin explosions in Connaught place including one which went off near an undergound Metro rail station entrance on a major road.
The other bomb exploded in front of the multi-storeyed Gopaldas tower on Barakhamba road and home to several private offices.
At least three bombs were defused near India Gate, Regal cinema and Central Park.
Bringing back memories of the pre-Diwali terror strike in Sarojini Nagar market in 2005 that left 68 dead, an explosion ripped Ghaffar market in Karol Bagh in Central Delhi where the first blast occured at around 6.15 PM.
Connaught place, about a km from Parliament, and the M Block market in posh Greater Kailash in South Delhi were hit by two blasts each. The well-coordinated explosions took place in a space of around 20 minutes.
Four people including a 12-year-old boy, who was a key eye-witness, was detained in connection with the blasts, the fourth this year after serial explosions in Jaipur, Bangalore and Ahmedabad.
The boy called Rahul, who was selling balloons in Connaught Place, told television channels that he saw two men drop a parcel into a garbage bin.
"Both were dressed in black, they were tall," he said. "They just walked up to the bin and dropped something in it and then walked away. Then there was a boom and people started shrieking."
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Indian Mujahideen, a shadow amalgam of banned SIMI and Lashker-e-Taiba, claimed responsibility for the blasts through an e-mail sent to news organisations around the same time when the explosions occured. Some of the bombs were kept in garbage bins. The e-mail was traced to an Internet Protocol address in Chembur in Mumbai.
About one and a half KG of Ammonium Nitrate and steel balls were used in each of the bombs which were synchronised with an Integrated Circuit(IC).
The deadliest explosion was in Ghaffar Market, home to stores popular among wholesalers and bargain-hunters. It exploded on a street jammed with clothing shops and stores that sell cheap foreign goods. A mangled rickshaw could be seen in front of the small shop where the bomb exploded.
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Police said that 16 people were killed in the Ghaffar market blast. Four lives were lost in the twin explosions in Connaught place including one which went off near an undergound Metro rail station entrance on a major road.
The other bomb exploded in front of the multi-storeyed Gopaldas tower on Barakhamba road and home to several private offices.
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At least three bombs were defused near India Gate, Regal cinema and Central Park.
Each of the dead were given compensation of Rs eight lakh--Rs five lakh by the Delhi government and Rs three lakh by the Centre.
Home Minister Shivraj Patil said the blasts have been engineered by people who want to create disharmony and disturb the social texture and expressed confidence that their designs would be defeated by people maintaining social harmony.
All the major markets in the Capital were shut as a precautionary measure shortly after the blasts.
The blast sites at the five areas were spattered with blood and several vehicles lay mangled.
Two of the explosions in Connaught Place, occurred just 250 metres apart in the city's central shopping district.
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Shoppers ran helter-skelter as the area was filled with screaming police cars, blaring ambulances, fire engines and curious crowds. The footpath was covered with garbage, broken glass and a small pool of blood while chappals lay strewn bearing testimony to the panic. One eye-witness said there was a deafening sound and there was some sort of smell in the air.
Shortly after the blast, the scene was filled with blood and chaos as security personnel raced to the spot and passers-by helped victims into taxis and rickshaws to get to hospitals.
One woman was being carried to a waiting ambulance, her face covered with blood.
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The second blast in Connaught Place went off inside a park crowded with families and young people relaxing on the grass. In the GK-I blast, some people were injured and ten shops damaged in the twin explosions that occured at around 6:30 pm.
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