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15 BLASTS ROCK AHMEDABAD

Manas Dasgupta

15 killed, 100 injured in terror attacks; “stop the blasts, if you can,” email from “Indian Mujahideen” warned

— PHOTO: AP

WAVES OF ATTACKS: Two victims of a bomb explosion in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

AHMEDABAD: Serial blasts rocked Ahmedabad on Saturday evening, killing 15 and injuring over 100.

Preliminary reports indicated that 15 blasts were set off in seven different areas. All, barring the one in Sarkhej, took place in crowded old city areas.

The first blast was reported from Hatkeshwar locality in Maninagar area at 6.38 p.m. after which bombs went off at 10 other places, all within the next five to seven minutes. About an hour later, three more blasts were reported from Maninagar and surrounding areas.

Hospitals targeted

Two hospitals were also reportedly targeted.

While no organisation has so far owned responsibility for the terror attacks, authorities confirmed that the state police intelligence department had received an e-mail on Saturday afternoon, issued in the name of the “Indian Mujahidden,” threatening that blasts were imminent. The email said: “Ahmedabad and Gujarat is the next target of serial blasts. Stop the blasts, if you can.”

Pointing out that the name of the organisation given in the e-mail was the same that claimed credit for the recent Jaipur blasts, the police said they were trying to locate the origin of the e-mail.

Another similarity with the Jaipur blasts was the use of bicycles, but unlike in the Rajasthan’s capital city, only old bicycles were used in Ahmedabad, apparently to avoid being identified as the bulk purchasers of new bicycles as in Jaipur.

People take a look at the devastation at one of the blast sites in the city.

Police said preliminary reports from the sites indicated that gelatin rods kept in tiffin boxes and tied to bicycles were left behind in heavily crowded areas. Most of the blasts were in congested points like traffic circles, near a Hanuman temple where a large number of devotees turn out on Saturdays and near bus stops.

Except the blast near the Sangam cinema in posh Sarkhej, where the bomb was believed to have been placed inside a municipal transport bus, all the other blasts were reported from labour-dominated east Ahmedabad.

At least three blasts were reported from the areas that constitute Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s Assembly constituency of Maninagar.

The police immediately blocked all the roads going out of Ahmedabad to prevent the perpetrators from fleeing the city.

Intensive checks at the railway station and airport were also launched.

In the old city areas the blasts led to traffic jams as police cordoned off the sites. The communication lines were jammed as anxious calls flooded exchanges and networks.

Minister of State for Home Amitbhai Anilchandra Shah who was on his way to a visit to the Saurashtra region, rushed back to supervise the investigation. The government declared a high alert in the entire state.

Chief Minister Narendra Modi, while condemning the blasts, said the government would leave no stone unturned to nab the culprits.

PTI reports from New Delhi:

Condemning the blasts, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sanctioned an ex gratia of Rs. one lakh to the next of kin of those dead.

He also announced a compensation of Rs. 50,000 for those injured.

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