Jostling crowds are the norm at Dilsukhnagar, be it a humdrum day or a day after the dreadful bomb blasts. On a normal day, it would be the bustle of shoppers, vendors and commuters, while a day after the twin bomb blasts, the crowd was that of the onlookers.
People, including women, arrived in droves from as far as Hayatnagar and Vanasthalipuram on Friday to have a glimpse of the two locations at Dilsukhnagar where bombs went off on Thursday. Chaos reigned on the main road as police resorted to repeated lathi-charge to dispel unruly crowds.
Some received bleeding injuries as they fell on the ground when policemen tried to shove them aside.
Crowds jostled on the road divider and the main road running via the blast sites. Some climbed over the foot overbridge for a better view. The topic of the day was how people had a providential escape.
Barricades were erected, cordoning off the blast sites, to facilitate collection of samples by teams from the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Police vehicles, OB vans and fire-tenders literally blocked the road near Konark theatre. Adding to the chaos were VIPs who made a beeline to the location. Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan were the first to visit the site. They were followed by Union Minister Chiranjeevi, Sarve Satyanarayana MP and BJP national president Rajnath Singh.
Whenever a VIP convoy arrived, police showed their wrath, and the onlookers, their perseverance.