Seven blasts in 60 minutes, Bangalore rattled

Fri, Jul 25 02:57 PM

Bangalore city was struck with seven serial blasts around the busy junctions of the city. Two people are reportedly killed and twenty injured.

Crude bombs were used for the blasts and were triggered by timers. Police has confirmed that nuts and bolts were used for maximum impact. They have found traces of Ammonium nitrate also. The Chief Minister of Karnataka has called for an emergency cabinet meeting. Centre has ordered a probe into the situation.

Sequence of blasts:

1st blast - 1:20 - Madiwala Bus stop

2nd blast - 1:25 - Mysore Road

3rd blast - 1:40 - Adugudi

4th blast - 2:10 - Koramangla

5th blast - 2:25 - Vittal Mallya Road

6th blast - 2:35 - Langford Town

Congress president Sonia Gandhi condemned the blasts saying, "It’s a cowardly act." BJP has blamed the government for being soft on terror activities.

The blast at Adugudi is reported to have left a crater in the road. Hosur road is a busy road connecting the centre of the city to the suburb.

All the mobile phone networks have been jammed across the Bangalore city. All malls, schools etc have been shut down in the city. Police has requested everyone to maintain calm.

The police has confirmed that the blasts look pre-planed. Following the blasts, all metros have been put on high alert.

Bangalore has been hit by five serial bomb blasts at crowded locations. The blasts reportedly occurred at Nayandahallil, Anepalya, Madiwala and Koramangalam within a span of 12 minutes, leaving at least 3 dead. According to preliminary reports, the first blast took place at 1.30 in the afternoon. Bomb squads have been rushed to the blast sites. The telephone lines have been jammed.

Terror struck the IT capital on Friday (July 25) after seven serial blasts rocked the southern city of Bangalore within a span of 15 minutes. Two persons including a woman have been killed and about 20 people have been reportedly injured.

The crude bombs, concealed near refugee camps and roadside stuffed with nuts and bolts, exploded during the busy lunch hour at Adugodi, Madivala, Nayandahalli, Pantharapalya and Vittal Mallya Road.

Confirming the reports of blasts, Police Commissioner of Bangalore -- Shankar Bidri -- said that explosives were hidden in relatively crowded areas of the city. Bomb disposal squads have been rushed to the blast site.

"In all these cases they have created the blast using timer devices," Bangalore Commissioner of Police Shankar Bidri told reporters at the site of one of the blasts. "Explosives have also been used, in quantity equal to one or two grenades."

He said among the injured, condition of one was stated to be serious. "In all the blasts, low intensity time devices were used. They want to cause damage to human lives. Explosives were used in quantity equal to one to two grenades," he said.

While no one has claimed responsibility so far for the blasts, sources in the Union Home Ministry suspected Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Taiba along with the local support of SIMI to be behind the attacks.

MR Pujar, additional police commissioner for Bangalore said "crude explosives" had been used.

"There were seven low-intensity explosions," he said. "Some of them were in crowded areas. At least person was killed and 15 to 20 were injured."

Sources in the Intelligence Bureau have told TIMES NOW that the blasts could have been carried out by LeT and SIMI and that they could be retaliatory in nature. Police had arrested several SIMI and Let operatives in the last six months.

The first blast took place at around 1:30 pm at the Madivala check post in the city. The other blasts have been reported from Adugudi, Ashoknagar, Hosur Road, Koramangala, Shantinagar and Langford town.

Located in central Bangalore, near to the M.G. Road and Cantonment Railway Station, Shivaji Nagar is an important transport hub and important commercial centre.

The city have been put on high-alert. Majority of schools, shopping malls and cinema halls have been closed down and telephone networks have been jammed following reports of blasts.

The police commissioner has appealed to the people to maintain calm in the city.

Recent blasts in the country

Following is a Chronology of some recent major bomb blasts in the country:

May 13, 2008: Eight serial blasts rock Jaipur in a span of 12 minutes leaving 65 dead and over 150 injured.

January 2008: Terrorist attack on CRPF camp in Rampur kills eight.

October 2007: 2 killed in a blast inside Ajmer Sharif shrine during Ramadan, in Rajasthan.

August 2007: 30 dead, 60 hurt in Hyderabad 'terror'strike.

May 2007: A bomb at Mecca mosque in Hyderabad kills 11 people.

February 19, 2007: Two bombs explode aboard a train bound from India to Pakistan, burning to death at least 66 passengers, most of them Pakistanis.

September 2006: 30 dead and 100 hurt in twin blasts at a mosque in Malegaon.

July 2006: Seven bombs on Mumbai's trains kill over 200 and injure 700 others.

March 2006: Twin bombings at a train station and a temple in Varanasi kill 20 people.

October 2005: Three bombs placed in busy New Delhi markets a day before Diwali kill 62 people and injure hundreds.

I was just passing by the area where apparently some bomb blast happened. Even though I didn't see any scene of actual bomb exploding there, but I have heard there has been a series of bomb blasts in Bangalore upto 5 of them in multiple places. The scene was busy with people getting anxious and asking what's going on, however I have not see anything in particular. It was all filled with Police men trying to sort out the chaotic traffic and managing people. Bangalore has been a high growth city for past 10 years now and has been peaceful. However, it seems like many people do not want that to happen. It can also be a political unrest or some kind of terrorist act. However, in the past couple of years this has been the 3rd biggest incident of Bomp blast in a city like Bangalore. I wonder sometimes, what leads the people to do something as heinous as this? What do they get personally out of this? I am sure like Mumbai ... Bangalore is becoming resilient to such instances and will surely come back to normalcy within a day!