Carnage in Jaipur. Bangladeshi group suspected
Mirza Ghalib
by the "ultras" as barbaric. I feel much better now.
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80 KILLED, 150 WOUNDED IN JAIPUR BLASTS
14 May 2008, 0045 hrs IST,TNN
Terror in Jaipur
A devastated scene at Johri Bazar after the serial blasts rocked
Jaipur. (PTI Photo)
JAIPUR: Terror struck yet again — this time in Jaipur, at the busiest
market, at the busiest hour, aimed with chilling precision to kill,
maim, terrify and cleave the country. At last count, the toll was 80
killed, and with over 150 injured, it could go up. (Watch)
The first blast took place at 7.20pm on Tuesday in the crowded Johari
Bazaar and within 15 minutes seven more blasts occurred in adjoining
areas in the walled city — near the Hanuman Mandir, which was milling
with devotees, near Hawa Mahal, at Badi Chaupad, Tripolia Bazar and
Chandpole.
Within minutes, the entire market was a picture of total chaos. People
ran screaming, jumping over dead bodies and severed limbs, skirting
mangled rickshaws and damaged cars. The piercing wail of ambulance
sirens replaced the firecrackers that would go off every other day in
Jaipur to celebrate its victorious Rajasthan Royals T20 team.
Terrorists displaying the telltale tactics of Lashkar-e-Taiba and SIMI
struck with bombs planted on cycles and cycle-rickshaws. In the past
three years, this is the 21st terror attack outside Jammu & Kashmir.
Chief minister Vasundhara Raje said, "We will not tolerate this."
Police later arrested a man from Mumbai. Rajasthan's director general
of police, A S Gill, said the attacks were designed to cause maximum
damage and the sites had been picked with care. He confirmed that
bombs had been planted on brand- new Avon cycles. Similar cycle blasts
on September 8, 2006, in Malegaon, Maharashtra, had killed 38 people
during a Muslim festival day. Bombs on cycles were also used for the
attack on the Faizabad court.
The Malegaon attacks were blamed on LeT and the banned Students'
Islamic Movement of India.
The Jaipur attack might have been worse had three unexploded bombs not
been defused in the walled city area. Another bomb was defused in the
upmarket Raja Park area, triggering fresh fears. Mercifully, the city
was keeping calm.
