Seven bombs hit India's Ahmedabad, two killed
Rupam Jain Nair, Reuters
Published: Saturday, July 26, 2008
AHMEDABAD, India (Reuters) - At least seven small bombs exploded in
the western Indian city of Ahmedabad on Saturday, killing at least
two people and wounding 55, just a day after another set of blasts
in the country's southern IT hub, officials said.
On Friday, eight bombs exploded in quick succession in the southern
IT city of Bangalore, killing at least one person and wounding six
others.
Saturday's blasts were in the Ahmedabad's crowded old city dominated
by its Muslim community. One was left in a metal tiffin box, used to
carry food, another apparently left on a bicycle.
"We have been told of seven to eight blasts," the central
government's junior home minister Shriprakash Jaiswal told the
Sahara news channel.
"These were low-intensity bombs," he said. "This has been done by
some terrorist group which wants to destabilize the country."
Another junior home minister, Shakeel Ahmad said at least two people
had been killed and 55 wounded and taken to hospital.
"The government had received a threat e-mail and we are probing into
it," local state government Home Minister Amit Shahe told Reuters.
One television channel showed a bus with its side blown up,
shattered windows and the roof half-destroyed. Another showed a dead
dog, with blood nearby, lying beside a blownup bicycle.
Ahmedabad is the main city in the communally sensitive and
relatively wealthy western state of Gujarat, scene of deadly riots
in 2002 in which 2,500 people are thought to have died, most of them
Muslims killed by rampaging Hindu mobs.
Both states targeted in the bomb attacks are ruled by the Hindu-
nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and are among the country's
fastest-growing.
Suspicion is already falling on Islamist militants intent on
destabilizing India by fanning tensions between Hindus and Muslims,
and police were swiftly deployed in Ahmedabad on Saturday to
maintain calm.
INVESTIGATIONS IN BANGALORE
So far though, police say they have few leads into Friday's
Bangalore bombings.
On Saturday, another unexploded bomb was found near a shopping mall
in Bangalore, but it was unclear whether the bomb was newly planted
or meant to have exploded during Friday's attacks, police said.
"Special squads have been formed to find out who is behind the
blasts. We have not got any conclusive leads yet," Bangalore's
Additional Commissioner of Police M.R. Pujar told Reuters on
Saturday.
India has suffered a wave of bombings in recent years, with targets
ranging from mosques and Hindu temples to trains.
It is unusual for any group to claim responsibility for attacks, but
India says it suspects militant groups from neighboring Pakistan and
Bangladesh of helping to plan and carry out many of the attacks.
India's home ministry said on Friday it suspected "a small militant
group" was behind the Bangalore attacks, while some police officials
said they suspected the blasts could be the work of the banned
Students Islamic Movement of India.
Some major IT companies in Bangalore, known as India's Silicon
Valley, said they were increasing security at their offices after
bombs went off there. Each bomb had a similar explosive force to one
or two grenades.
The city is one of the world's most prominent centers for software
development and is also home to a major outsourcing industry.
"We have increased security in our campus," said a spokeswoman for
Infosys, one of India's leading software companies.
Also nicknamed the "world's back office," Bangalore has more than
1,500 top firms, including Infosys, Wipro and the offices of global
firms such as Microsoft Corp and Intel Corp.
"If such incidents continue, investors will fly away from the city,"
said state opposition politician Mallikharjuna Kharge, who called
for improved security in the city.
In May, eight bombs, many strapped to bicycles, ripped through a
crowded shopping area in the western city of Jaipur, killing at
least 63 people and injuring hundreds more.
(Writing by Simon Denyer; Editing by Alistair Scrutton)
http://www.national
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