Mumbai blasts: Another bloody Wednesday

MUMBAI: Like most evenings, Khau Galli at Zaveri Bazar was teeming on Wednesday with people snacking at the wide array of food joints, when around 6.54pm a bomb planted in a scooter went off, killing at least 12 people and injuring another 17.

Locals say they heard two explosions in a span of a minute, though cops are yet to ascertain whether it was from two separate bombs.

The explosion occurred outside a store called Super Tools, whose owner Tyeb Radhampurwala and three employees were among the injured . Most of the dead and injured however were the patrons of Mohan Pudlawala , a shop situated close to Super Tools.

Mujib-ur-Rahman Khan, a social worker, described the sight after the explosion as "gruesome" . "People got dismembered and some had their bodies ripped into two. We picked up those who were seriously wounded and rushed them to GT Hospital, JJ and St George," Khan said.

BJP city chief Raj Purohit, who visited the area, said, "This is the third blast in the same area—that too within a periphery of 100 metres—and has been done to target Mumbai's economic hub." Khau Galli (Agiary Lane) is right in the middle of the diamond and bullion market. And the ground-plus-one structure that houses Super Tools is towards one of this street. Eyewitnesses say the explosion on Wednesday was so powerful that it damaged the Super Tools building and sent its pieces flying in all directions . Many people standing feet away were injured by this shrapnel.

The police are ascertaining whether gelatin sticks, which were earlier used in some Mumbai blasts, were employed in the Zaveri Bazar explosion.

A local businessman, Jimesh Jain, said he came across a partly charred dead body after the blast. "It was complete chaos on the road. People were running helter-skelter . Shop owners were downing shutters and there were cries of 'Bomb bomb bhago bhago' . The noise of the explosion was deafening and there was lot of smoke."
Another local trader, Hitesh Soni, said that people offered their private tempos, scooters and motorcycles to rush the victims to hospitals. "Ambulances and the police arrived later. It was local businessmen who came to the rescue and saved lives." Businessman Manoj Jain added that those from the nearby textile (kapda) bazaar also came to the rescue of the victims.

Many of those involved in rescue operations were local residents. "We do not know about our families but are helping in the rescue operations . Once this work is over, we will check the whereabouts of our family," said one of them, oblivious of his blood-soaked clothes.

Mehul Jain, who has an office in the area, said: "This is the third time that Zaveri Bazar locals have to suffer the impact of a bomb explosion . Today, it is somebody else whose lives have been lost. Tomorrow, it could be us. It is scary." Mehul explained that there was a big population of migrant labourers who worked in the area. These artisans came from as far as West Bengal, Rajasthan, UP and Bihar. It is these people who usually come to Khau Galli to snack during evening hours. Purohit said the intention of the perpetrators of the blast was to create panic among the local business community.

DADAR 7:06 pm

400 students have narrow escape, 11 hurt

Mumbai: It was a picture of sheer destruction outside Dadar's Antonio D'silva school on Wednesday, as a bomb, placed in an electric meter near the bus stop along the school, exploded around 7.06 pm. Eleven people were injured, three of them grievously including a woman in her early 30s. Close to 400 students of the school had a narrow escape as they left for home just 15 minutes back.

Three men on two bikes and the driver of a silver Maruti Esteem (MH-43 A 9384) closest to the bus stop were among the injured. While nine people were rushed to KEM, two were taken to Shivaji Park's Sushrusha Hospital. Part of the bus stop was blown up and stores across the street damaged. An hour later, as rains lashed the city, police covered the site with tarpaulin to preserve evidence.

Eyewitnesses and residents said they heard a deafening thud. People ran in all directions on SK Bole Road that leads to the Portuguese Church. Rajendra Rathod, owner of N Raichand Jewellery, said, "We thought there was an earthquake." "We are checking if shopkeepers had CCTVs that captured someone placing the explosives," said a senior cop.

OPERA HOUSE 6:55 pm

Normal day ends with blood on the street at diamond hub

Mumbai: It was business as usual near the city's diamond hub, Panchratna building at Opera House, when some passers-by were flung in the air after a high-intensity bomb kept on a scooter went off, killing eight people and injuring around 30. The bomb went off at 6.55 pm on Wednesday.

Jaish Lodhi, a member of the diamond merchants' association , said, "We were sitting in the office when we heard a thundering noise. We ran towards the windows to see whether it was a cylinder explosion or some shootout. We could see only smoke and didn't know what to do. After a minute, we saw the mutilated bodies, people lying on the road and footpath. There were young boys, middle-aged men and some old people as well. There was blood on the street." Lodhi said the blast also struck fear in people's hearts.

An eyewitness complained that the police didn't arrive immediately . "The police took more than 20 minutes to reach the spot. The area is also called Khau Galli , since it houses many vada-pav and idli sambar stalls. Those working in Panchratna building and nearby offices frequent this lane to have snacks," said Kailash Kumar, who works in the area.

According to eyewitnesses, the bomb was planted on a scooter near a car and the in tensity of the blast was so huge that the second- and third-floor windows of some buildings got smashed. Several cars parked there turned turtle and bikes were severely damaged.

The Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) arrived at the spot with sniffer dogs The BDDS's forensics team in vestigated if there were more explosive devices. The Opera House area was cordoned off and personnel from the Mum bai police, Home Guards and Quick Response Team were de ployed in the vicinity.

Wednesday's blasts took place just two days after the fifth anniversary of the Mum bai serial train blasts of July 11, 2006 in which 188 persons were killed.


TOI

17 killed, 131 injured as 3 blasts maim Mumbai

MUMBAI: No other city in the world has been the tragic target of as many serial terror attacks and bombings as Mumbai, which went through the agony in 1993, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2008 and now July 13, 2011. On Wednesday evening, three serial bomb blasts in the span of ten minutes ripped through three of the busiest hubs in the city—Zaveri Bazar, Opera House and Dadar—at rush hour, killing 17 people and injuring 131.

The first explosion was at 6.54pm at Zaveri Bazaar, followed by another at Opera House a minute later. The third explosion was at 7.06pm outside Kabutarkhana, a few metres from the western side of Dadar railway station. This is the third terror attack at Zaveri Bazaar.

The high explosives with timer devices were kept on vehicles at Opera House and Zaveri Bazar while at Dadar a bus stop was the target. The police said that the three locations, two of which were khau gallis, had been chosen for maximum impact. Police commissioner Arup Patnaik said it was a terrorist attack.

While the Mumbai police have not named any outfit responsible for the blasts, sources say that it could be the handiwork of a banned outfit, the Indian Mujahideen (IM), which recently formed a group called the 313 Squad and has been recruiting youngsters to it.

Security agencies suspect the use of ammonium nitrate in the blasts. Splinters of nuts and bolts, which were used in the bombs, were found and removed from the injured at the Harkisondas and Saifi hospitals. The police have reportedly zeroed in on a CCTV camera near Opera House but later found that it too was damaged in the blast.

The police said that seven Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were used for the blasts. "There could be at least three groups of bomb planters who kept the bomb and left quietly," said a security official, adding that the IEDs were wrapped in cloth bags and tiffin carriers—the signature of the IM. However, no terror email, another IM signature, was sent to any news channel to claim responsibility for the blasts. Soon after the blasts, the police began rounding up suspects but no arrests were made.

The bomb detection and disposal squad cordoned off the area and collected traces of explosives from the blast sites. However, due to the rain and people using water to douse the fires, the police fear that traces of explosives might have been washed away. Police sources said the anti-terrorism squad team also took the recordings of a CCTV camera installed in the vicinity of the Zaveri Bazar blast site. "The investigators can get a clear picture of how the explosion took place after watching the CCTV footage," said an officer who was at the spot. Sources said that the explosive was concealed in an umbrella which was kept on a motorcycle.

At Zaveri Bazar, local residents said the narrow lane was unusually crowded, as it was the peak hour at Khau Galli. Scores of people pack the lane, lined with food stalls, between 6 and 7 pm. Most of those injured and dead were eating at Mohan Pudlawala, a popular eatery. Businessman Hitesh Soni, who was among the first to reach the site, said, "I heard a loud thud and thought it was a cylinder blast. But when I saw people crying for help and bleeding profusely, I realized it was more than that."

The Opera House blast also happened in a Khau Galli, a favourite haunt of diamond traders and brokers. The diamond trading centre, Panchratna, is around 500 metres from the site of the blast. The police are examining if RDX was used in this blast.

Confusion reigned in hospitals as the injured and the dead were transported to seven city hospitals. When chief minister Prithviraj Chavan was accosted by relatives of the victims at GT Hospital near CST, complaining about the ill-equipped and poorly manned hospital, he refused to comment.

A group of diamond brokers was the first to react as soon as the bomb went off outside Panchratna. "We bundled bodies of bloodied men into taxis to take them to hospital without waiting to see if they were dead or alive," said a volunteer, Bhavesh, who was shaken by the brutality of the scene.

At Dadar, the police said that a device which resembled an electric meter was used as an explosive and placed near a bus stop along the Antonio D`Silva School road. Sushila Shah, a resident of Pandit Niwas opposite the blast spot, said the doors and windows of her house were flung open by the intensity of the blast. "I was cooking and I fell down with the impact. By the time I came to the window, I saw hundreds of people running helter-skelter."

The state government has convened a cabinet meeting on Thursday morning. Congress state chief Manikrao Thakre denied that it was an intelligence failure. "The police have done a lot but there is room for improvement," he said. "There is a need to beef up security, especially in crowded places."

Union home minister P Chidambaram visited the three blast sites in Mumbai late on Wednesday night to take stock of the situation.

TOI