ID :
14026
Sun, 07/27/2008 - 23:04
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/14026
The shortlink copeid
Death toll from serial blasts in India's Ahmedabad rises to 45
NEW DELHI, July 27 Kyodo - The death toll from 16 coordinated blasts that rocked India's western city of Ahmedabad on Saturday evening more than doubled overnight to 45 and is expected to rise further, India's NDTV reported Sunday.
The report said more than 100 people were injured in the blasts in Ahmedabad, Gujarat state, which occurred one day after similar low-intensity, serial blasts killed two people and injured 12 in India's IT hub of Bangalore.
The first blast in Ahmedabad occurred at 6:45 p.m. Saturday and the others followed within a span of 60-70 minutes.
Some bombs were planted on cycles in crowded marketplaces, while two blasts occurred at hospitals where victims of the explosions had been rushed, NDTV reported.
Home Minister Shri Shivraj Patil has strongly condemned the terrorist acts, saying ''Anti-national elements have been trying to create panic among the people of our country. Today's blasts in Ahmedabad seem to be part of the same strategy.'' He urged people in the communally sensitive state where Hindus and Muslims have fought in recent years, to maintain calm and expressed confidence ''that the culprits will soon be identified and brought to book.''In separate statements, Ahmedabad's Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi condemned the blasts as ''a cowardice act of terrorists against the humanity, while Gov. Shri Nawal Kishore Sharma ''appealed to all the communities -- Hindu, Muslim, Sikhs and Christians -- to maintain peace and harmony'' in the wake of the incident.
The governor noted that, ''Since last five years, peace has been maintained and no such incidence has been recorded.''In 2002, the state was hit by India's worst communal riots in decades, after a train carrying Hindu volunteers was allegedly burned by Muslims, leading to the death of 59 passengers.
The incident was followed by attacks on Muslims all over the state by Hindus that left more than 1,000 dead and thousands of others injured and homeless, tarnishing India's secular image in the world.
PTI earlier reported that the government's Intelligence Bureau suspects two Islamic militant organizations -- the Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Taiba and the Students Islamic Movement of India -- of possibly being behind the Bangalore blasts.
But NDTV news quoted police sources in Bangalore as saying the nature of the attack pointed at the Bangladeshi-based outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad-i-Islami.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has condemned the bomb attacks in Bangalore and Ahmedabad as ''dastardly acts of senseless violence against innocent persons,'' according to a statement issued by the country's Foreign Ministry.
The report said more than 100 people were injured in the blasts in Ahmedabad, Gujarat state, which occurred one day after similar low-intensity, serial blasts killed two people and injured 12 in India's IT hub of Bangalore.
The first blast in Ahmedabad occurred at 6:45 p.m. Saturday and the others followed within a span of 60-70 minutes.
Some bombs were planted on cycles in crowded marketplaces, while two blasts occurred at hospitals where victims of the explosions had been rushed, NDTV reported.
Home Minister Shri Shivraj Patil has strongly condemned the terrorist acts, saying ''Anti-national elements have been trying to create panic among the people of our country. Today's blasts in Ahmedabad seem to be part of the same strategy.'' He urged people in the communally sensitive state where Hindus and Muslims have fought in recent years, to maintain calm and expressed confidence ''that the culprits will soon be identified and brought to book.''In separate statements, Ahmedabad's Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi condemned the blasts as ''a cowardice act of terrorists against the humanity, while Gov. Shri Nawal Kishore Sharma ''appealed to all the communities -- Hindu, Muslim, Sikhs and Christians -- to maintain peace and harmony'' in the wake of the incident.
The governor noted that, ''Since last five years, peace has been maintained and no such incidence has been recorded.''In 2002, the state was hit by India's worst communal riots in decades, after a train carrying Hindu volunteers was allegedly burned by Muslims, leading to the death of 59 passengers.
The incident was followed by attacks on Muslims all over the state by Hindus that left more than 1,000 dead and thousands of others injured and homeless, tarnishing India's secular image in the world.
PTI earlier reported that the government's Intelligence Bureau suspects two Islamic militant organizations -- the Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Taiba and the Students Islamic Movement of India -- of possibly being behind the Bangalore blasts.
But NDTV news quoted police sources in Bangalore as saying the nature of the attack pointed at the Bangladeshi-based outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad-i-Islami.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has condemned the bomb attacks in Bangalore and Ahmedabad as ''dastardly acts of senseless violence against innocent persons,'' according to a statement issued by the country's Foreign Ministry.
