The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : The blast trail started at Madiwala Check-post

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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

The blast trail started at Madiwala Check-post

Karnataka Bureau

While the first killed a woman, the last was mistaken for a lit cracker; experts have recovered ammonium nitrate

— Photos: Bhagya Prakash K., V. Sreenivasa Murthy and K. Murali Kumar

FRIDAY FRENZY: (Clockwise from top left) Police inspecting a blast site even as a curious crowd gathers at Adugodi in Bangalore on Friday. The sniffer dog squad was pressed into service at Rajarammohun Roy Road, and the Mysore Road-Ring Road junction which witnessed traffic hold-ups.

BANGALORE: A common thread runs through all the eight explosions that occurred in Bangalore on Friday: explosives were planted on busy thoroughfares, indicating that the common man was the target.

While explosives were planted near storm water drains at some places, they were planted on the pavements at others. The blasts occurred on arterial roads, creating traffic jams.

Madiwala Check-post

Time: 1.15 p.m.

Sudha Ravi was waiting with her husband for a Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation bus at Madiwala Check-post bus stop on Hosur Road when the IED (Improved Explosive Device) ripped through the bus shelter, killing her on the spot. The intensity of the blast was such that the side panels of the shelter were thrown a few metres away.

“I thought it was an accident, but I was surprised as the traffic was moving slowly. I saw the woman lying in a pool of blood and the police were trying to shift her to the hospital,” techie Nazan Yasmeen, who passed by the site a couple of minutes after the blast, said.

Raj Krishnan, a resident of Madiwala, said that he heard a loud sound and thought it was a transformer burst. Later, a neighbour informed him that it was a blast.

Kengeri RTO-Mysore Road

Time: 1.20 p.m.

Vinay, an employee of Concorde Motors, came to the parking area to go out for lunch.

Just when he was removing his vehicle, he heard a loud blast that was followed by smoke right next to the compound. The perpetrators of the crime had placed IED in a bush adjacent to Concorde Motors next to the Kengeri RTO.

“Employees normally come out of the building to have lunch. We ran inside soon after the blast,” some employees who were watching the police officials inspect the blast site said.

The police recovered bolts, electrical wire and some concrete pieces from the spot. There were no casualties here and traffic on Mysore Road was smooth.

Nayandahalli-Mysore Road

Time: 1.30 p.m.

The IED had been placed in the side drain in front of Papanna Complex, just a few metres away from the Mysore Road-Ring Road Junction. “We were relaxing at home after having lunch when we heard a loud blast. We immediately rushed out and saw smoke billowing from the side drain,” Muniyappa, who resides opposite the blast site, said.

While some residents swore they saw a stranger throw the bomb from a vehicle, others reckoned it had been planted.

Following the blast, vehicular movement was affected for nearly three hours even as the police struggled to contain the crowd. No one was injured.

Rajarammohun Roy Road

Time: 1.30 p.m.

Techies Ravindran Kanakraj and Ramesh Raghu were on their way to lunch when an IED placed on the traffic island exploded.

“Something flew at us and we were just startled by the sound. It was a small blast,” said Ravindran, who along with Ramesh, walked to the nearby Mallya Hospital.

Traffic was affected severely as Vittal Mallya Road was cordoned off to keep the public at bay.

The police have recovered bolts and shrapnel from the blast site near the traffic island.

Adugodi Main Road

Time: 1.30 p.m.

The IED had been placed behind a telephone junction box on the footpath, a few metres away from Adugodi Police Station.

Muniraju, who had stopped his two-wheeler to speak into his mobile phone, was seriously injured on the head and leg.

He was first rushed to a private nursing home and later to St. John’s Hospital close by.

Forensic science experts have recovered ammonium nitrate besides shrapnel and other bolts.

Langford Town

Time: 1.45 p.m.

The low intensity blast here occurred behind a Bangalore Electricity Supply Company transformer on Berlie Street, close to Rashtriya Military School, in front of a sports equipment shop. No one was injured.

The area was soon cordoned off, and the bomb disposal squad was deployed to search for any other live explosives.

Traffic came to a stop for a while as curious public tried to mob the area.

Anepalya

Time: 1.45 p.m.

Muniya and Anuban, employees of a service station, were on their bicycle when the IED placed next to a storm water drain exploded, injuring them.

The IED had been placed below a peepul tree where slabs of granites had been placed.

New Guddadahalli, Mysore Road

Time: Not known

Passers-by actually mistook the low intensity blast to be a lit cracker.

It was only after a while that the police went to the spot after someone called them suspecting it to be a bomb blast.

The police reached the spot around 4 p.m. and later found shrapnel behind a BESCOM transformer.

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