One child was killed and 18 people were wounded yesterday in a bomb attack in a crowded shopping area in the Indian capital, police said.
The bombing came exactly two weeks after several markets in New Delhi were hit by deadly serial blasts claimed by an Islamist militant group called the Indian Mujahideen.
A young boy was killed instantly when he tried to return a bag containing the bomb to suspects who fled the market before the explosion, police said.
“Two young men in black denims, black T-shirts and wearing helmets drove a motorcycle to the market and the pillion rider dropped a polythene bag containing the bomb,” deputy police commissioner HS Dhaliwal told reporters.
“A 10-year-old boy tried to help and return the bag to the riders but they sped away at high speed and the bag exploded, killing the child instantly,” he said. “Eighteen others were injured, three of them critically.”
The official said checkposts had been thrown up across the city to hunt for the attackers. There were no immediate reports of anyone claiming responsibility for the attack.
The bomb went off outside an electronics shop in the congested Mehrauli market in leafy south Delhi, when afternoon shoppers were out in full force buying for the upcoming Hindu festival season, and sent passers-by fleeing.
The area was quickly sealed off by police.
“It was lunchtime, and we heard a loud bang. There was smoke everywhere. People were on the ground,” a local shopkeeper told AFP.
“I picked up three people, and there were ten other people with injuries on the ground,” added Basant Kumar, another witness. “My brother was hit in the ear.”
India is currently gearing up for the Muslim Eid al-Fitr celebrations marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan and the Hindu festival of lights, Diwali, next month.
The attack came two weeks after bomb blasts in other New Delhi shopping areas that killed 24 people and injured at least 100.
Several other Indian cities — Jaipur, Bangalore and Ahmedabad — have also been hit by serial bombings since May, all of them claimed by the Indian Mujahideen.
Since the New Delhi attacks two weeks ago, Indian police have launched a major hunt for the suspected ringleaders of the shadowy group.
Over the past week, 11 suspected militants have been arrested and two more were killed in a dramatic shoot-out in a mainly-Muslim area of south Delhi.
The government also unveiled security measures to tackle what Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said were “vast gaps” in intelligence gathering.
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