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20 killed as 5 bomb explosions rock Delhi

Delhi Bureau

100 injured in marketplace blasts; Indian Mujahideen claims responsibility for terror attacks

Photos: AP, Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

When terror struck: As dusk fell on the Capital on Saturday, Delhiites were jolted by a series of blasts. In the photographs above, people lie helter skelter in a central Delhi shopping area and a injured girl is being wheeled into the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. —

NEW DELHI: Twenty people were killed and about 100 injured in a series of five bomb explosions that rocked busy marketplaces in the Capital on Saturday.

The first explosion took place at Karol Bagh at 6.10 p.m.; two bombs were triggered at Connaught Place; and two more in the bustling M-Block market of Greater Kailash.

Initial investigations revealed that the improvised explosive devices were configured using ammonium nitrate. Timer devices were used for synchronising the explosions that occurred between 6.10 and 6.40 p.m. Eight persons were killed at Connaught Place and a live bomb was defused outside the Regal cinema in the heart of the Capital. Two more bombs were found at Central Park at Connaught Place and at India Gate.

In an e-mail to the media, the terror outfit, Indian Mujahideen, claimed responsibility for the explosions.

A red alert was sounded in the Capital.

While the Centre announced an ex gratia of Rs. 3 lakh each for the next of kin of the deceased, the State government announced Rs. 5 lakh for each of the dead, besides Rs.50,000 for those injured.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit visited the injured at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.

The injured were rushed to the Ram Manohar Lohia, Sir Ganga Ram, Jessa Ram, Lady Hardinge and Lok Nayak Jaya Prakash Narayan hospitals. Some were taken to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences.

At Karol Bagh, the bomb was kept in or near a three-wheeler. The blast ripped the vehicle apart. An autorickshaw parked nearby was tossed in the air and it fell on the other side of the road. A woman sitting in the vehicle and several bystanders were seriously injured.

Puran Kumar, whose relatives were injured in the blast, said he was in his house when he heard a loud explosion. “I rushed out and saw badly injured people lying on the road writhing in pain and screaming for help. Among them were some of my relatives. Initially, we thought that it was a cylinder blast,” said a shocked Puran.

Another resident, Nanak, said: “A woman lay near the autorickshaw with her face smashed. All that was left on her face were her two eyes.”

A bomb kept in a dustbin near Gate No. 1 of the Barakhamba Road metro station went off around 6.35 p.m.

In Central Park, a bomb kept in a bin exploded five minutes later, causing injuries to over 40 people. Deepak, who runs a garment shop in Connaught Place, said he himself rushed over a dozen injured people to hospital. Most of the injured were women and children.

Two “low-intensity” bombs planted in a dustbin and on a cycle in the busy M-Block Market of Greater Kailash went off at 6.30 p.m. and 6.40 p.m. A woman was injured.

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