Terror Strikes India ! 25 Blasts,2 Cities,2 Days

BANGALORE

Home to 40% of the country's technology industry, Bangalore was rocked by serial blasts-seven within a span of 15 minutes-on Friday. The blasts killed one person, injured at least seven and exposed the vulnerability of the country's key industrial and financial centres to possible terrorist attacks. The low-intensity blasts were directed at securing the attention of IT companies. The first bomb exploded at 1.30 pm at Madivala, half a km from IT BPO major MphasiS office and a km from a unit of Wipro.The explosive content used equalled roughly two grenades', Bangalore police commissioner Shankar Bidri said. Nasscom said the blasts would reflect badly on the industry, while industry captains mostly kept up the faith.
Ganesh Natarajan, chairman, Nasscom, said, "Bangalore being the IT Hub of the country, any kind of negative image is bad for the industry. It is a sad development and puts a question mark on the safety of the city."
But Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar Shaw said, there would be no impact on investments in the long run."Thereis no city or country in the world without a hole in the security systems,"she said.
As the news of the blasts spread, Security at many corporate offices, like Infosys and Wipro,has been tightened."All our employees are safe and there has been no impact on our business operations. We are in touch with the police department and will remain fully alert. We have increased securityon our campus,"an Infosys statement said.

AHMEDABAD

At least 29 people were killed and 88 injured, as 16 blasts planned with precision and ruthlessness rocked heavily crowded bazaar and residential areas and two public hospitals of Ahmedabad on Saturday evening. The blasts, which happened between 6.45 and 8 pm, caught police unawares even as the state was under red alert, following the Bangalore serial blasts on Friday. Compared to Bangalore, the Ahmedabad blasts were of higher intensity. The police control room confirmed 24 deaths by 10.30 pm, even as reports of more deaths and more blasts came in. At least, 15 of the deaths were in blasts, which took place in the government-run Civil Hospital and another three in municipal-run LG Hospital. Two public hospitals were targeted with explosions even as blast victims from other sites were streaming in. All the blasts, except the one at Sarkhej, took place in crowded eastern neighbourhoods of the city and were confined within a five-km radius. The blasts happened in Sarkhej, Maninagar, Bapunagar, Thakkarbapanagar, Naroda, Raipur Narol and Sarangpur. The Civil Hospital and LG Hospital campuses were the last to get bombed. Most of the bombs were planted behind bicycles in tiffins contained in blue polythene bags while the bombs in the hospitals were placed in automobiles. The bombs were packed with timer devices and microprocessors. Preliminary reports suggest ammonium nitrate was used in the bombs. One of the bombs went off near a bus in a Hindu pocket of the otherwise Muslim-dominated Sarkhej ripping one side of the bus completely. The busy diamond market in Bapunagar here was also made a target. At Maninagar, the bombs were planted in the busy vegetable market and bus stops. Two bombs went off around 6.45 pm from near Sarangpur bridge. Eyewitnesses said multiple bombs were planted within a short range, which went off in an interval of a few seconds. The idea was to attract people to the site with the first blast and then explode the other with more devastating effect. “One bomb went off from a bag on one cycle carrier and as people collected, another one went off within 15 to 20 seconds on another cycle carrier,” said Bhushan Bhatt, a municipal corporator.