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85 killed in
Jaipur blasts
WSN Network
 Once
again jolting the nation with the force of terror, at least 85
people were killed and over 150 injured in seven explosions that
took place on Tuesday evening in Jaipur. Another bomb was found and
defused.
Though no one has
claimed responsibility yet, intelligence sources claimed the
explosions could be the handiwork of the Bangladesh-based Harkat ul
Jehadi Islamia or the Pakistan-based Lashkar-i-Tayyeba.
Most of the
explosion took place near temples that are generally crowded on
Tuesdays with devotees offering special prayers to the monkey god
Hanuman, suggesting that the blasts were planned to cause maximum
impact.
This was Rajasthan's
second brush with terrorism in recent years - the last being a bomb
blast at the Ajmer Sharif dargah of Moinuddin Chisti on October 11,
2007 that killed three devotees.
Be it the attack in
New Delhi that came before Id-Diwali, the Sankat Mochan temple in
Varanasi or the blasts at the Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad or the
explosion at the Hanuman Mandir in Jaipur, there appears to be a
pattern to these acts of terror: target places of worship or
“religious” occasions that draw the maximum people.
The intention
appears clear - to inflame communal passions.
"We have information
that 80 people have died," Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand
Kataria was quoted by AFP as saying. Earlier, Chief Minister
Vasundhara Raje told reporters that 60 people had died and 150 were
injured.
State police chief
A.S. Gill said, "Obviously it's a terrorist plot. The way it has ,
been done, the attempt was to cause maximum damage." He did not rule
out the use of RDX and timer devices.
The home minister
said one suspect had been detained and was being investigated.
The Tuesday
terrorist strike in Jaipur started at 7.25 pm. There were seven
explosions at six places - Manak Chowk, Sanganeri Gate Hanuman
Mandir, Johri Bazaar, Tripoliya, Chauti Chaupar (two explosions) and
Chandpole Hanuman Mandir. Police said another bomb was defused at
Chandpole Hanuman temple.
The bombs were carried on bicycles or perhaps cars - to the
destinations before being exploded by the terrorists.
 Flowers
strewn in blood at Chauti Chaupar and police helmets scattered on
the Kotwali police station porch told a gruesome tale. Two bombs had
exploded in quick succession at Manak Chowk and Chauti Chaupar.
Many of the flower vendors at Chauti Chaupar were injured, as bombs
exploded behind the cement platform on which they displayed their
flowers. Soon a bomb exploded in the premises of the Kotwali police
station across the road.
Ram Babu, an eyewitness, said, "It was the sound of something heavy
dropping with a thud. When we turned back we saw the injured in the
parking lot out side the police station."
Homemaker S. Dangayach, 42, witnessed the heart-rending death of two
children. "I saw several people running in panic. I was unable to
run... I was saved by the grace of God," she told HT at Sawai
Mansingh Hospital.
At the Kotwali police station, three policemen were injured. Smashed
helmets were scattered all over the place along with the mangled
remains of vehicles.
Police evacuated the entire walled city within an hour of the
blasts. Vehicles were prohibited from going in and people were asked
to walk instead. Security officials said the cellphone network was
jammed to prevent the spread of rumours.
Minutes after the evacuation, riot control vehicles, columns of
rapid action force and special task force were deployed at different
crossings inside the walled city turning it into a fortress.
14
May,
2008
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