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Download PDF At least 20 people were killed and 70 injured as a string of explosions in a space of 20 minutes ripped through crowded shopping areas in the Indian capital yesterday.
Indian Mujahideen, an Islamic militant group, claimed responsibility for the coordinated blasts that took place at Gaffar Market in Karol Bagh, Connaught Place and Greater Kailsh between 6:15pm and 6:35pm.
At least 16 people died at Gaffar Market, a popular bazaar for foreign goods, and four in Connaught Place.
An e-mail sent to local media outlets just before the blasts read, “You are going to get message of death.”
Three unexploded bombs were recovered near India Gate, Regal Cinema hall and Connaught Place Central Park, said Joint Commissioner of Police Ajay Kashyap.
Indian Mujahideen was unknown before May when it claimed responsibility for a series of bombings in Jaipur city in Rajasthan that killed 61 people.
The group also said it was responsible for July 26 blasts that killed at least 55 in Ahmedabad, the commercial city of western state of Gujarat.
Two of the explosions in New Delhi occurred just 300 yards (meters) apart in Connaught Place, the city’s central shopping district.
The usually crowded streets quickly emptied of shoppers and filled with screaming police cars, fire engines and gawking crowds.
They were strewn with bloodstained ladies bags, shoes and clothes as police officers raced to the scene and passers-by helped victims into taxis and rickshaws to get to hospitals.
The blast in Connaught Place tore apart a park which is very popular with families and young people relaxing on the grass.
India went on a heightened state of alert beefing up security at public places like railway stations, airports, and bus terminals.
Bringing back chilling memories of the 2005 pre-Diwali terror strike that left 68 people dead in Sarojini Nagar market in South Delhi, the first explosion hit Ghaffar market in Karol Bagh in Central Delhi.
Connaught Place and the M Block market in posh Greater Kailash in South Delhi were hit by two blasts each.
Four people including a 12-year-old boy, who was a key eyewitness, was detained in connection with the blasts, the fourth this year after serial explosions in Jaipur, Bangalore and Ahmedabad.
An explosives expert said about 1.5 kgs of ammonium nitrate and steel balls were used in each of the bombs which were synchronised with an integrated circuit(IC).
A young boy said two men in black clothes planted something in a dust bin in the Central Park in Connaught place which exploded later.
AFP adds: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was attending a meeting of his ruling Congress party when the blasts occurred, vowed that “the challenge posed by terrorism and communalism would be fought tooth and nail.”
President Pratibha Patil denounced what she described as a “mindless act of violence.”
Meanwhile, UNB reports that Dhaka strongly condemned the bombings in New Delhi.
In a statement shortly after the news flew in, Foreign Affairs Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury said, “Bangladesh condemned this barbaric and cowardly act of terrorism that has cost so many innocent lives.”
“We express our solidarity with the government and people of India at this sad hour.”
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