debanjan13
09-14-2008, 09:39 AM
NEW DELHI: The death toll in the five serial bomb blasts that rocked Delhi Saturday evening has gone up to 22. At least 100 others were injured in the blasts that happened within a span of 22 minutes in three crowded market areas in the heart of the capital.
Bringing back memories of the pre-Diwali terror strike in Sarojini market in 2005 that left 68 dead, the blasts rocked Connaught place, about a km from Parliament, Ghaffar market in Karol Bagh in Central Delhi and the M Block market in posh Greater Kailash in South Delhi.
Earlier, Home Minister Shivraj Patil said 18 people died and many others injured in the blasts.
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.
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 blasts took place.
A young boy claiming to be an eye-witness said two men in black clothes planted something in a dustbin in the Central Park in Connaught place which exploded later.
Two people are believed to have been detained in connection with the explosions.
All the major markets in the capital were shut as a precautionary measure shortly after the blasts.
Today's blasts come after the serial blasts in Jaipur in May in which 65 people were killed and the explosions in Ahmedabad in July that left 49 dead. There were serial blasts in Bangalore in which two people were killed.
The first explosion rocked Ghaffar market of Karol Bagh at 6.15 PM when its was bustling with Saturday evening shoppers for foreign goods available in many of the shops there. The explosives were kept near a Maruti car, and the impact of the blast was so severe that an autorickshaw was thrown up several feet in the air.
This was followed by two blasts in Connaught Place - one in central park and one near a commercial tower in Barakhamba area, and two in Greater Kailash in South Delhi.
The explosives were planted in dustbins in Connaught place area while in Greater Kailash one was in dustbin and another was on a bicycle.
At least two unexploded bombs were recovered outside Regal cinema house in Connaught place and near India Gate.
Bringing back memories of the pre-Diwali terror strike in Sarojini market in 2005 that left 68 dead, the blasts rocked Connaught place, about a km from Parliament, Ghaffar market in Karol Bagh in Central Delhi and the M Block market in posh Greater Kailash in South Delhi.
Earlier, Home Minister Shivraj Patil said 18 people died and many others injured in the blasts.
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.
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 blasts took place.
A young boy claiming to be an eye-witness said two men in black clothes planted something in a dustbin in the Central Park in Connaught place which exploded later.
Two people are believed to have been detained in connection with the explosions.
All the major markets in the capital were shut as a precautionary measure shortly after the blasts.
Today's blasts come after the serial blasts in Jaipur in May in which 65 people were killed and the explosions in Ahmedabad in July that left 49 dead. There were serial blasts in Bangalore in which two people were killed.
The first explosion rocked Ghaffar market of Karol Bagh at 6.15 PM when its was bustling with Saturday evening shoppers for foreign goods available in many of the shops there. The explosives were kept near a Maruti car, and the impact of the blast was so severe that an autorickshaw was thrown up several feet in the air.
This was followed by two blasts in Connaught Place - one in central park and one near a commercial tower in Barakhamba area, and two in Greater Kailash in South Delhi.
The explosives were planted in dustbins in Connaught place area while in Greater Kailash one was in dustbin and another was on a bicycle.
At least two unexploded bombs were recovered outside Regal cinema house in Connaught place and near India Gate.