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New Delhi, September 13
Terror returned to Delhi on Saturday, nearly three years after the 2005 Diwali bombings. Five blasts in busy marketplaces killed 21 people and left at least 101 injured, many of whom were fighting for their lives in six city hospitals. Bombs wrapped in plastic bags and attached to cheap clock timers went off in Karol Bagh, Connaught Place and M Block market in Greater Kailash I between 6.07 pm and 6.38 pm, targeting festival shoppers and families on weekend outings.Soon after the attacks, Commissioner of Police Y S Dadwal said, “We have vital clues in the blast and it would be cracked very soon.” Later in the evening, police sources said the Special Cell had detained two people, one from Palika Bazar and the other from Gaffar Market in Karol Bagh. Both were said to be activists of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
The first bomb exploded in an autorickshaw at Gaffar Market in Karol Bagh at 6.07 pm, killing 11 people and injuring at least 37. Glasspanes shattered 500 metres away, and a cloud of dust and debris rose that eyewitnesses said made it difficult to see in a 50-metre radius around the blast site for at least the next five minutes. “I saw five people lying dead on the spot, and many others drenched in blood,” said Roshan Lal, who was only a few metres away from the autorickshaw.
Even as people had begun to ferry the victims of the blast to the Sir Ganga Ram, Jessa Ram, Lady Hardinge, Jeevanmala and Ram Manohar Lohia hospitals, came news of two other explosions a few kilometres away in Connaught Place. A bomb went off in a municipal rubbish bin on Barakhamba Road at 6.34 pm, splattering a 20 square-foot area with garbage. Exactly two minutes later, another bomb exploded in Central Park, also in a rubbish bin.
“I was sitting on my chair when suddenly there was a loud bang. Through a thick cloud of smoke, I saw a woman and a sadhu in a pool of blood. The rubbish bin had been ripped apart, and an autorickshaw stood with its glass smashed and roof sagged,” said Puran Singh, who mans an NDMC toilet in front of the blast site on Barakhamba Road. Two buses, a Blueline and a Whiteline, were standing some distance from the bin; the explosion could have been catastrophic if they had been nearer.
At almost exactly the same time as the Connaught Place blasts, two bombs went off in bustling M Block Market in GK I, at 6.36 pm and 6.38 pm. Five people were injured. Police officers said these bombs too had been kept in garbage bins. “As soon as the first blast took place, people panicked and started running here and there. I was speaking to them over the public address system, asking them to assemble in the park, when the second blast took place,” said O P Shardha, municipal councillor of the area.
But Delhi’s Saturday evening nightmare wasn’t over yet. Some young ragpickers found three plastic bags in the Connaught Place area, all of which turned out to be live bombs.
The first of these was discovered in another Central Park garbage bin just after 7 pm, and was defused by the National Security Guard and Bomb Disposal Squads.
At around 7.15, another ragpicker found what he thought was a ticking clock in a rubbish bin outside Regal Cinema on the Outer Circle. Beat Constable Suresh took it from the boy and, after removing a wire, dug it in the ground.
Five minutes later, another ragpicker found a third live bomb, this one in Children’s Park at India Gate, which is normally crowded on weekends. The bomb was defused within 15 minutes. Sometime later, there was information about a suspicious bag on Parliament Street, but it turned out to be a false alarm.
Commissioner Dadwal told The Indian Express: “The terrorists had kept the bombs in bins in plastic bags at four places and bombs were filled with ball bearings, pieces of metal and some sharpnel. We have made all security arrangements, and the city does not need to feel unsafe.”
Police sources said ammonium nitrate had been used in all the bombs, and some gunpowder had been found in M Block Market. The bombs were C-shaped, very similar to the ones used in the Ahmedabad, Surat and Jaipur attacks, they added.
A few minutes after the Connaught Place blasts, a Palika Bazaar security guard noticed two suspicious people in a toilet of the underground market. They tried to flee when challenged, but the guard caught one of them. This man is believed to be one of the suspects, and has been detained for interrogation.
A 12-year-old boy, who was standing nearby, claimed that he had seen two men in black throwing something in the bin. Police took the boy away for questioning and a detailed description of the men. Forensic teams found sharpnel, some ball bearings, a broken mobile phone, a steel box and some chemical explosive from the Barakhamba explosion site.
The attacks have come a week after the Intelligence Bureau wrote to the Delhi Police saying Delhi could be next in line after the terrorist strikes in Jaipur and Ahmedabad. Immediately after the blasts, some news channels received a mail from the ‘Indian Mujahideen’, claiming credit. The mail mentioned that there would be nine blasts in Delhi, and criticised what it said was a skew in media coverage.
Meanwhile, central agencies were believed to have picked up definite clues about the attackers. Investigators suspect that SIMI activist Tauqeer, who was last known to be in Nanded in Maharashtra, is behind the e-mail sent to the media minutes before the blasts. Official sources said the bombs were similar to the ones planted in Surat, using ammonium nitrate. That the devices were planted by a team each is indicated by the fact that the GK I device was placed at a very short distance between M-9 and M-29 shops. The Karol Bagh device appears to have been hurriedly left some distance away from the main Ajmal Khan Road market, they said.
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this is too bad
Whats is achieved by such bomb blasts? Polarisation of people. Who benefits from such Polarisation? BJP. Since the day it loast the parliament vote it is doing its best to polarise the society. The UPA should go into overdrive and instead of ceremoniously blame the SIMI catach hold of Bajrang Dal activists who have been assembling bombs all over the country.
Now190who190to190blame?190The190whole190SIMI190office190bearers190are190in190jail 190Indian190Mujahedeen190is190a190figment190of190imagination 190This190is190done190by190BJP190to190polarise190the190country190to190win190the190elections 190Evidence190is190the190fact190that190mmany190Bajrang190dal190workers190have190been190caught190around190the190country190asembling190such190bombs
NOW WHO TO BLAME? THE WHOLE SIMI OFFICE BEARERS ARE IN JAIL. INDIAN MUJAHEDEEN IS A FIGMENT OF IMAGINATION. THIS IS DONE BY BJP TO POLARISE THE COUNTRY TO WIN THE ELECTIONS. EVIDENCE IS THE FACT THAT MMANY BAJRANG DAL WORKERS HAVE BEEN CAUGHT AROUND THE COUNTRY ASEMBLING SUCH BOMBS.
how can a book set in battlefield, and an imaginary god convincing a human to give up conscience and kill his brothers be guidance? is it not paradox that a book that mandates murder of sudras who read vedas held as a beacon of guidance by some? who do these deranged individuals think they are fooling?
tax collection money need to be used for people.
TAX collection MONEY need TO be USED for PEOPLE.
TAX COLLECTION MONEY NEED TO BE USED FOR PEOPLE.
i blame the indian politicians like uma bharti, advani, ashok sighal for whatever is happening around, they are the one who is encouraging what is so called "terrorism" . they themselves are not united and that gives an encouragement for any man to take advantage. terrorist are also human beings, they are risen because our country does not give equal rights to every individuals, and our politics are the bad example for them. why can't our higher responsible authorities be one and deal the problems of each one, why do they have to give rise to such a shameful deeds? our politicians are sleeping and now its high time for them to wake up otherwise it could be the worst results in future.ask them to be united and fight back or stand up for every disaster or attacks that every common man is facing.
WHATS IS ACHIEVED BY SUCH BOMB BLASTS? POLARISATION OF PEOPLE. WHO BENEFITS FROM SUCH POLARISATION? BJP. SINCE THE DAY IT LOAST THE PARLIAMENT VOTE IT IS DOING ITS BEST TO POLARISE THE SOCIETY. THE UPA SHOULD GO INTO OVERDRIVE AND INSTEAD OF CEREMONIOUSLY BLAME THE SIMI CATACH HOLD OF BAJRANG DAL ACTIVISTS WHO HAVE BEEN ASSEMBLING BOMBS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.
gujarat chief minister narendra modi stated that he informed prime minister about the bombing the question is how did he knew about these bombings two weeks before this statement leads to suspect and pointed that is modi responsible for the bombings? why he failed to bust the terror network?
everytime there is a blast, there is a phony email claiming responsibility. after ahmedabad blasts, the police claimed to have cracked the case, however so called indian mujaheedin resurfaced. does that mean the ahmedabad blast suspect were scapegoated by police? or is it in interest of bjp, vhp and bajrang dal to have blasts months before election? why do blasts happen in bjp administered states only?
indian politis of pride majority and poor minority has created disgruntled citizens in their own homeland. minorities are being denied right to jobs, in-security in homes and places of worship, murdered by day, raped by night, and continous on-slaught of hatred from the likes of bjp, vhp, bajrang dal, shiv sena has only created a hopeless situation where the judiaciary fails to provide justice, the executive fails to provide security and legislature fails to protect the minorities. how can the society be safe when the weakest of it are not?
antonio , this was the propaganda of christians to spread christianity in India , i dont know which vedas you are reading vedas main idea is go deep within one self and self realsisation and i Have a good informaton for you , christanitnas want to spend 15 billion dollars in india to christianise whole india by the end of the century
Mr Jay’s ideas are positive but the problem is, whether there is any fool-proof method to sort out the harmless dogs and the mad dogs since every community has its fringe component of lunatic dogs. A much more difficult task is to find the Frankenstein machine that makes the dogs to behave as the way they behave. We would rather go for a political-party free Presidential type democracy in India where the people should elect a representative( one for every 10,000 people) based on the candidates morality and character, call them basic democrats. And these basic democrats should elect a President of India who will have complete power to hire Ministers based on their abilities and will have the summary power to fire them based on their incompetence. We got to conduct a referendum on this and change the constitution of India. Similar procedure can be worked out by our political scientists at the state level. Political parties are a the biggest curse in India.
Having lived and experiencd Silent Religious Fanaticism (Poland/Italy/US/India/Srilanka(Christianity) and Explosive Fanaticism in (Middle East-India-Far East ) the method andsystem are same. Islamist use violent method to meet their deeds often quoting/mis-interpreting Holy Book, while silent -Fanatical use Financial methods to convert forequilibrium in poor backward areas using another Holy Book and both seekredemption using their Holy Books. India and Indians have 5000 years of civilisationand both Great 2 Relgious power fighters want to carry it and destroy India for Geo-political reasons using different relgious fabric of India. Politicians misused relgion for power grab, while people u-turned into religious redemption. Western countriesprofited in any wars and poor nations suffered and corruption/nepotism deprivedcitizen the least and caused this hatred of each other and mistrust.Without propereducation, healthcare or poverty plan it will go on.
its high time India take strong steps
It is Manmohan Sonia Gandhis Congress Govt.whch has to be blamed. Thy dont have any concrete ideas/plans to tackle terrorism, and the home minister asks people to stay calm.Can the home minister or anyone in congress find out the actual loss to the poople who have lost their near and dear ones? No they never will because then they will not have bomb blasts which cannot be converted to votes.Its just for votes that Congress is acting soft on Terrorism. Please bear in mind as you justify Terroirsm with your inaction you are promoting the politics of hatered. Non Muslims have a feeling that they have no fundemental rightto live in peace. We dnt want an inactive Congress Govt. lets have someody who has iron hands against Terrorism
Those who do not have human relations involve in such barbaric act, for power, money etc. etc. We should realize this fact and oppose them, refuse, hate them. The only solution to this is, let the terrorists organization all over the world know that we all together(hindu, muslim, sikh, christian) hate terrorism. Let us discourage them.
It is time now to bring back POTA again. This will atleast stop those who give shelter to extremists. The streanth of intelligence agencies to be increased and it should be seen that no confidential information is leaked to outsiders or extremist organisations.
POTA should be back. Agreed. But then its should be a law targeting culprits not a mechanism to subjugate muslims.
Mr Ali,I entirely agree with you...I know most Muslims in India are not terrorists,but then if many of the suspects happen to belong to the community,I don't think it is your case that they should be free.Having said that,I maintain terrorists should be hanged publicly even if they happen to belong to the Hindu community and not just the minorities.Indonesiais a great example...in the wake of the Bali bombings,the police official who caught the culprits was a Balinese Hindu and the judge who sentenced the culprits to death was an Indonesian Muslim.We have to emulate Indonesia.
There is only one religon is connected to terrorism. The whole world is concerned about this menace. What India can do when politicians are working with vested interests. Govt is fooling the nation saying it will take action but never. It is cat's paw of this very religion. The moment the human beings are pursueing extreme religion it tend to create the hardcore. this is the basic fundamental of this religion. India does not have problem with Sikh, Jain, Buddist, parsi, and to certaine extend Christinity. Such radicals will only ruin the nation and world. I dont think Indian can do anything when America is failed itself. India made himalyan blunder to declare india as a secular counter when the people are not ready to accept. This chickens are coming home to roost
Any nation's genetic balance is achieved with a restructuring with time. If some people are violent, you have to see its seed in the distant past. for some nations, the 100 years' war will never end, and it augures ill omen for them. i see Pakistan ( land of piety) into Kabrastan ( cemetery), by world order, if only the people have foresight to see. May God give the people insight to see that impending danger.
why allowed the simi group in uor goverment. i thin suddenly closed the group bettr.
Asusua sterotype as come from none other then Shivraj Patil cloaiming that the Govt is aware of the names of the perpetrators terrorists act in the country and the same will in due course will be discloses.Every time a terrorists acts take place,the Home ministers and his Deputies come out with identical manners but steps are sown to taken by the Home DEpt or by the Internal Security Agencies.They are making fool of the people all the time.This is the only claim of the Govt of India.Whar else can be expected of the Govy and leaders have corrupted the nation at all level moraly and ethically.The is busy sending out its cronies to foreign countries for sight seeing by way of reward for voting for the Govt. swo that it and its leaders can perpetrate further ncorruption.DELHI polce were more busy in clearing the name of another Driver of BMW with full knowledge that the injured was fighting for his lie in the Hospital.The alleged claims of the IB and the Govt to the claims of forewarned .
In very many high profile cases such as the bomb blasts and terrorist attacks, the police and Anti-Terrorist Squad catch the poor puppets simply because the politicians and other authorities need them to mask their own participation. hide. In the high profile case of Afzal who had been the only person who was indirectly involved in the Parliament attack, the passive participation of all the kingpins has been all completely wiped out. One telling example is the case of Zaheera Sheikh (of Vadodara), a poor 19 year old girl who witnessed the butchery of fourteen innocent people at the Best bakery. But we sent her to one year prison for the contempt of court because Zaheera lied. Can we blame a young girl when the local MLA was threatening to kill her and her family. With no protection, she had to choose between telling the truth and living in one piece. Imagine what may be developing in her mind if she happened to join one of the terrorist organizations.Please, please go to the roots.
UPA Government is responsible for this. WHY POTA IS NOT THERE.SONIA AND UPA GOVT is directly responsible for this.