Terror targets capital; 30 killed, over 90 injured

Five blasts took place in the capital on Saturday evening, all targeting busy shopping areas in well-known localities. At last count 30 people lost their lives in these blasts and close to 100 were injured.
They were low-intensity bombs triggered by timer devices that went off in less than half an hour, even more worrying, four live bombs were also found in central Delhi, two near the high security zones of India Gate and Parliament Street.

All the blasts were at popular, crowded marketplaces to cause maximum damage.

The first bomb went off at a little past 6 in the evening at Gaffar market, a popular shopping destination in West Delhi.

Moments later, the heart of Delhi, the bustling Connaught place was rocked by two explosions. The next target was a posh market in south Delhi where two bombs shattered the peace.

"Between I-day and the festive season is a lean period and the terrorists took advantage of that," said Karnail Singh, Joint Commissioner, Delhi Police.

Police say that a 12-year-old boy may have actually seen the people who planted one of the bombs and could provide vital clues.

12-year-old boy: They met quickly and went to the parking.

NDTV: How many people were injured?

12-year-old boy: There were 6 to 7 people lying on the ground. They were injured. The police arrived within 6 to 7 minutes.

NDTV: How tall was the man you saw?

12-year-old boy: The man was tall and wearing black clothes. They came and put a black plastic in the dust bin and went away. Then the blast happened.

The e-mail sent by the Indian Mujahideen, the same group that owned up the serial blasts in Ahmedabad a month ago, claimed responsibility for the blasts.

According to the Maharashtra anti-terror squad, the mail was sent from the eastern suburbs of Mumbai.

The Intelligence Bureau had warned of retaliatory attacks in major cities after the recent arrests in Ahmedabad. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi claimed on Saturday that he too had alerted the government.

"Ten days back when I met the prime minister and the NSA chief, I informed them that the people arrested in connection with the Gujarat blasts have told the police that plan is on for blasts in Delhi. Only location was not known," said Narendra Modi, Chief Minister, Gujarat.

Modi said this was not taken seriously by the Central government.

However, sources in the Intelligence Bureau were quick to dismiss the claims saying the Gujarat police had given no such information.

The Delhi government called an emergency Cabinet meeting.

Meanwhile, the Centre tried to allay fears.

"We will find out who is behind it, people behind it will be punished. Let's avoid rumours," said Shivraj Patil, Union Home Minister.

Pretty similar to what is said after each blast, be it Malegaon, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Bangalore and Ahmedabad.

However, there is no breakthrough yet in any of the cases. Terrorists continue to strike at will whenever, wherever, leaving behind the same sense of hopelessness and fear.

Source: ndtv.com