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May 14, 2008
Curfew Imposed
in Parts of Jaipur; Death Toll 55
Jaipur
Curfew has been imposed in parts of Jaipur after serial bomb blasts
rocked the city Tuesday evening killing 55 and injuring over 125
persons.
"The death toll in the incident had touched 55 till early in the
morning. According to our information over 125 persons have suffered
injuries in the blast", G C Kataria, Rajasthan's home minister, told
IANS.
"As a precautionary measure we have decided to impose a curfew from
9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in parts of the city", he said. "The death toll is
likely to increase as some of the injured are in critical
condition", a doctor at the government run SMS Hospital said, not
wanting to be named as he was officially not supposed to speak to
the media.
Doctors said many of the victims had shrapnel injuries. The
carefully choreographed blasts at six spots went off within a space
of 15 minutes and occurred in the Chandpole, where a Hanuman temple
that draws a large number of devotees is located, as well as at
Manak Chowk, Badi Choupar, Chhoti Choupar, Sanganeri Gate and Johari
Bazar areas that are home to mixed populations of Hindus and
Muslims.
Police said one explosive was also defused by bomb disposal squad
near the Hanuman temple. Preliminary investigations revealed that
cycle ballbearings were used in the explosions to inflict shrapnel
injuries on the victims. A clock timer was also found at one of the
blast sites.
Blood was splattered at the scene of the blasts which tossed some of
the victims several feet up and damaged the iron shutters of shops.
"Such acts of terror will not be tolerated and the perpetrators will
be brought to book," Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje said
soon after the blasts.
Tuesday's explosions were among the worst terror strikes in India
after the Mumbai suburban train blasts in July 2006 that killed over
180 people.
Jaipur is at the centre of India's famous Golden Triangle tourist
circuit that draws thousands of foreign visitors every year. It was
not immediately known whether any foreign or Indian tourist was a
casualty in the explosions.
The medium intensity explosions, the first major terror attack since
the serial blasts in Uttar Pradesh in November last year, threw life
out of gear in Jaipur and prompted a nation-wide alert to be
sounded. Anti-riot police were deployed in some of the crowded areas
of the famous 'pink city' to thwart any possible retaliation or
riots, and the entire walled city area where the blasts occurred was
cordoned off.
The mangled remains of bicycles and cars splattered with bloodstains
pockmarked several of the blast sites. There were a few hundred
people at the Hanuman temple when the blast took place since it was
a Tuesday, considered auspicious among Hindus.
May 14, 2008
IANS | Top
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