Jaipur, Gujarat, Bangalore, Delhi (twice) and now Maharashtra and Gujarat again. How safe is India?

The pattern of attack mirrored the one last Saturday in Mehrauli in Delhi. In both the cases, youth on motorcycles threw a plastic bag containing the low-grade explosives.

At least five persons, including a 15-year-old boy, were killed and 80 injured on Monday night as suspected terrorists set off bomb blasts in the communally-sensitive town of Malegaon in Maharashtra and Modasa town in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district.

Two mysterious blasts in the Bhikku Chowk area of Malegaon killed seven people on Monday night and injured 30 others. The wounded were rushed to the nearby Noor Hospital and Faran Hospital. Two of the wounded were reportedly injured when police opened fire to disperse a mob. Three policemen were also reportedly hurt.

Curfew was imposed in the eastern part of communally-sensitive powerloom town of Malegaon after the blast and stone-pelting by a mob.

The location where the blasts took place also happens to be outside the building where the banned SIMI had its office. It is opposite Nisar Dairy and Bhikku Hotel. A Hero Honda motorbike, which was parked at the blast site, was completely mangled. While senior police officers said they were cylinder blasts, angry local residents insisted that bombs had been set off.

Additional SP (Malegaon) Sanjay Patil said that the explosions took place on a motorcycle. “Soon a huge mob gathered and they pelted stones at the police. We fired five rounds in retaliation. A huge crowd gathered and prevented the police from entering the area. There is tension and we have summoned additional forces. The exact number of injured people cannot be quantified now, but the mob attacked us brutally,” a police officer said.
Four companies of the State Reserve Police have been deployed. Malegaon sub-divisional magistrate Ajay More said the situation was tense. “Three policemen, including an IPS probationer Viresh Prabhu, are injured. Prabhu was hit by a stone and has a big gash on his head. We have admitted the policemen to Wadia Hospital,” he said.

While some police blamed cylinders for the blasts, other officials said the pattern was similar to the recent Delhi blasts, where two unknown persons came on a motorcyle and flung a bomb in the crowded Mehrauli market.

The Malegaon blasts took place at around 9.30 pm when a Ramzan special prayer was being offered in all mosques across the town. This is the second time that Malegaon has been hit by blasts. Earlier, on September 8, 2006, four bombs had been planted on cycles and went off in the textile town, killing 31 and injuring 297 others. Nine SIMI suspects had been arrested for the 2006 blasts.

Residents of Malegaon alleged that Monday’s blasts were a conspiracy to disturb the law and order situation two days prior to Eid. “I saw people running helter-skelter on the road and youths were taking the injured to the hospital,” said Khaleel Ahmed who stays in the vicinity.

Thousands of women were shopping at the time of the blasts. Bhikku Chowk is located between three mosques. The SIMI office, which is located on the first floor of a building, was functional till the outfit was banned on October 24, 2001. Bhikku Chowk also houses around six tea stalls.

A team of forensic experts from Nashik were reaching Malegaon to gather evidence from the blast site. An Anti-Terrorism Squad team had also reached Malegaon and have started investigations, said ATS chief Hemant Karkare.

It is reported that 17 crude bombs were recovered from a trash bin in Ahmedabad today. According to reports, all the bombs have been defused by the bomb disposal squad.
A probe into who placed the bombs into the trash bin is on. No further detail on the incident is available yet.

Sources: TOI MSN

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