Eight serial blasts in Jaipur; 60 dead

• Eight serial blasts rocked the city of Jaipur at 7:35 PM on Tuesday evening
• 60 dead, 150 injured
• Injured taken to the Sawai Mann Singh hospital
• Blasts at Manas Chowk Police Station area, Johari Bazar, Tripolia Bazar, Badi Choupal, Choti Choupal, Kotwali area
• Eighth bomb diffused
A HELPING HAND: Residents and passersby help an injured man into a waiting ambulance.

• The bombs exploded within a span of 12 minutes of each other
• Bombs were made of iron ball bearings, alarm clock circuit
• Bombs were planted in bicycles
• Speculation is rife that this could be the handiwork of Lashkar-e-Toiba, SIMI
• Authorities are also suspecting that Bangladesh-based HuJI could be behind the attacks
• There was a near-stampede like situation in the blast-hit areas
• Traffic movement has been obstructed
• Shops have shut down, police have cordoned off the area
• Delhi, Mumbai, Karnataka, Bihar, Hyderabad, Maharashtra on high alert
• National Security Guard has reached Jaipur
• All the city borders, Rajasthan state borders sealed
• Traffic movement has been obstructed

New Delhi: Eight serial blasts rocked the city of Jaipur at 7:35 PM on Tuesday evening, killing 60 people and injuring 150 others.

The injured have been rushed to the Sawai Maan Singh (SMS) hospital. (SMS Hospital Helpline: 0141-2560291; 0141-2619827)

The blasts — which were of medium intensity — took place in the walled city area.

"According to the information I have received 60 people have died and several injured," said Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, who rushed back to the state capital from Jodhpur.

Two policemen are also among the dead.

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Raje said at a press conference: "Eight blasts took place in Jaipur on Tuesday evening. The ninth bomb was diffused by the police."

She blamed the blasts squarely on the Centre saying that the Government of a country is primarily responsible for the country's security. She also said that Rajasthan had received no specific intelligence alerts about any terror threat.

Wednesday has been declared a day of state mourning. All the schools and government offices in the state will remained closed.

Meanwhile, Section 144, which restricts the assembly of three or more people in one place, has been imposed in the walled city.

As many as 55 bodies were kept in the mortuary at the SMS Hospital for postmortem examination. Some other deaths were reported at the SDM Hospital and Kanwantia Referral Hospital, a hospital spokesman was quoted by news agencies as saying.

Scores of people thronged the hospital to offer all possible help to the victims and their families. A large number of blood donors had also turned up at the hospital.

Health Minister Narpat Singh Rajvi said arrangements for treatment of the injured were also made at the Santokhba Durlabhji Hospital and Sanganeri Gate Mahila Hospital.

Where And When

The Chief Information Commissioner of Jaipur, Rohit Singh says that the first blast took place at the Manas Chowk Police Station area. The second blast took place at the Johari Bazaar.

The third bomb exploded at Tripolia Bazar — where a Hanuman temple drew a large number of devotees on Tuesday — while the fourth and fifth blasts were reported at Badi Choupal and Choti Choupal.

Two more blasts took place near the Kotwali area. A bomb squad reached the affected spots. One live bomb attached to a bicycle was recovered near an explosion site at Chandpole Gate which was later defused, according to the Jaipur DGP, A S Gill.

According to the SP of Jaipur, the bombs exploded within a span of 12 minutes of each other — which seems as if it was is a planned and well-organised attack.

The bombs, say authorities, were made of iron ball bearings and had an alarm clock circuit attached to them.

Near-Stampede Situation

The blasts set off panic and near-stampede situation at all the localities.

The areas where the bombs were planted are fairly crowded for they are popular tourist spots. Even though this is a lean season as far as tourism is concerned, the areas are congested, specially in the evenings when people are on their way home from offices.

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Traffic movement was obstructed immediately after the blast and panic set in among the residents. The police was caught unawares, but quickly moved in, ordering shops to shut down. The area was cordoned off.

According to the authorities, one bomb was probably planted in a car — as there was a badly damaged car in one of the areas. The other bombs — one of which exploded near a handloom showroom — were planted in bicycles.

No intelligence inputs were available earlier, but the police was generally on the alert because of the IPL matches that are taking place in the city.

Terrorist Attack?

Speculation is rife that this could be the handiwork of Lashkar-e-Toiba, but the authorities say that they need some more time to verify this.

There is also some talk that the blasts could be the handiwork of Bangladesh-based terror outfit, HuJI (Harkut-ul-Jehadi Islami) or the work of SIMI activists — many of whom were recently rounded up and arrested.

The fact that bombs were planted in bicycles indicate a similarity to the Malegaon blasts in 2006, causing the authorities to feel that the same group may have planted the bombs in Jaipur.

The Chief Secretary Jaipur, BC Sawant, told CNN-IBN that the DGP of Rajasthan reached the spot soon after the bombs exploded. "We are hopeful to have control on the situation very soon," Sawant further stated.

The blasts have happened at a time when the whole of Jaipur is in the grips of IPL cricket frenzy. Most of the police and security forces are busy in the preparations of the IPL matches.

New Delhi, Mumbai, Karnataka, Bihar, Hyderabad and Maharashtra have been put on high alert and the National Security Guard has reached Jaipur. Rapid Action Force personnel have been deployed in Jaipur to help deal with the situation as security was beefed up.

All the city borders as well as Rajasthan state borders have been sealed.

The Rajasthan government has announced a relief of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased killed in the serial blasts.

An official spokesman told news agencies that relief of Rs 1 lakh would also be provided to each of those who were critically injured and Rs 25,000 would be given to other injured in the blasts.

There have been communal tensions in the city, but no blasts except for the blast in October 2007 at the dargah of the Sufi saint, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer. Then two people were killed and 17 injured.

(Reporting by CNN-IBN Correspondent Swati Vashishta )

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