18.4.13

A Bike Bomb Blast in Bangalore



Suspected terrorists struck in Bangalore on Wednesday, blasting an improvised explosive device hidden in a motorcycle parked outside the state BJP headquarters, teeming with people on the last day to file nominations for the May 5 state assembly elections. Sixteen persons, including 11 police personnel, were wounded. Doctors said none of the injuries were life-threatening.
The bomb was kept less than 50 feet away from the BJP office at Jagannath Bhavan on Temple Street, off 11th Cross, Malleswaram, one of the city’s oldest and coveted residential neighbourhoods.
Police said the 10.28 am explosion triggered a blaze that gutted two cars and as many scooters parked adjacent to the bomb-laden Ind Suzuki bike. It shattered glass panes in several buildings and left many living in the vicinity with minor injuries. The windshields of at least seven other four-wheelers were shattered. A tree caught fire in the aftermath of the blast.
The blast came exactly three years after low-intensity explosions at the Chinnaswamy Stadium ahead of an IPL match. That attack had left several injured.


A preliminary probe said the culprits had stuffed 500 grams of ammonium nitrate in a pipe that they fitted onto the bike. The explosion was triggered by a timer. The bike was reduced to mangled metal.
As a Maruti Omni, Hyundai Santro, Honda Dio and Bajaj Chetak went up in flames, the shockwaves unleashed by the explosive shattered the windowpanes of at least 20 houses, commercial buildings and the BJP office. The blast was heard by people in a 1-km radius.
Two fire engines doused the blaze in 20 minutes. City police officers said the site bore the imprint of an Indian Mujahideen (IM) operation. Senior intelligence officers, however,said poor execution ruled out the involvement of any big-time terror module. The attack could have been carried out by locals or politically motivated individuals. That the bomb was not packed with nails, nuts and screws could be a pointer to it not being an IM operation.
The casualties would have been higher had the blast occurred during the evening, when scores of people visit temples in the vicinity.
Police commissioner Raghavendra Auradkar said: “The miscreants hid the explosive in a motorbike parked outside a three-storey residential building opposite the BJP office. It was a low-intensity bomb.”
The injured were shifted to the nearby KC General Hospital. A policeman who was seriously injured was later referred to the Mallige Hospital. The others were stated to be out of danger.

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