25 July 2008
BANGALORE: The SIMI and LeT may be behind the serial blasts that rocked Bangalore on Friday afternoon, the Intelligence Bureau sources said, adding "they could be retaliatory in nature". The first three blasts took place between 1.30 to 1.45 pm.
Bangalore Police Commissioner Shanker Bidri, while talking to Times Now, confirmed that the explosions appear to be act of the people who wanted to terrorise the capital of Karnataka. He also said that all these bombs were of low-intensity and were triggered by timers.
Soon after the serial explosions, the police ordered closure of all schools, colleges, cinema halls and commercial complexes.
As per the latest reports, the SIMI and LeT operatives have been arrested and they are being interrogated. The police sources said that these terror attacks bear the hallmarks of Bangladesh outfit HuJI.
At least two people have been killed and 20 people wounded in a series of blasts in Bangalore. Seven blasts have been reported so far.
According to Bangalore Police Commissioner, Shankar Bidari, seven blasts rocked Bangalore.
The blasts took place at the Madiwala bus depot, Mysore road, Adugudi, Adugudi, Koramangla, Vittal Mallaya road, Langford Town and Richmond Town. The blasts took place within a span of 60 minutes. (Map: Bangalore blasts sites)
"In all these cases they have created the blast using timer devices," Bangalore Commissioner of Police Shankar Bidari told reporters at the site of one of the blasts.
"Explosives have also been used, in quantity equal to one or two grenades."
The police sources also said that these terror attacks bear the hallmarks of Bangladesh outfit HuJi.
Some IT firms, as well as schools, colleges, malls and cinemas closed after news of the blasts broke. Phone lines were jammed.
"I was on my way to office when we heard a noise," witness Arun Daniel told a news channel. "It sounded like a cracker. The traffic was blocked, everyone was running around. It was not a severe blast."
A TV channel showed a small shopping stall in Bangalore with broken windows and its concrete floors broken in pieces. Rubble littered another site.
M R Pujar, additional police commissioner for Bangalore said "crude explosives" had been used. "There were seven low-intensity explosions," he said. "Some of them were in crowded areas."
Bomb disposal squads have reached the blasts sites.
The injured have been admitted to the St Johns Hospital in Bangalore.
Bangalore Bombed
A Times of india Editorial
26 July 2008
At the time of writing this reports have come in of eight bomb blasts in Bangalore, killing one and injuring eight. When terror attacks are becoming less frequent in other parts of the world, serial bomb blasts like this are, unfortunately, now a regular occurrence in Indian cities. That all the bombs going off in Bangalore were crude devices of low intensity shouldn't be cause for complacency. Most terror attacks go unsolved, leaving the perpetrators free to repeat their ghastly handiwork.
Nowadays it's not just Delhi and Mumbai that are prime terrorist targets. Attacks can happen anywhere, whether Jaipur in Rajasthan or southern cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad or Coimbatore. Communal politics could be a motive, and a prime intention of many such attacks is to stir up communal trouble. It's important, therefore, not to panic. That could unleash a destructive cycle, which is what the bombers want.
There could be an economic angle to the attacks as well. While the target of the Jaipur attacks could have been tourism to the city, Bangalore is nicknamed the world's back office.
Attacks on Bangalore or Hyderabad could be designed to keep foreign multinationals away from India and hurt the economy. It's time we wake up to the fact that having a world-class economy will require putting in place world-class security as well. Instead of using terror attacks as occasions to score points off each other, political parties must unite and evolve a consensus on how security and intelligence can be beefed up to prevent further attacks. This is not a BJP or Congress issue, but a national issue.
The nation doesn't yet have a security culture, but it's now time to take some tough decisions. States will have to cooperate with each other and with the Centre. A federal police force, specially equipped to solve cross-state crimes like terrorism, drug and human trafficking, should be considered. And security protocols, which might involve a degree of harassment of ordinary citizens, may have to become part of everyday life. India is an under-policed country. Recruitment of cops and security personnel should be stepped up and facilities provided to them. Electronic surveillance at important sites should be commonplace. That may not always be able to prevent crimes, but it could be used to catch their perpetrators. And the knowledge that there is such surveillance could deter future attacks. So far as terror goes, India shouldn't be a soft state any longer.
Source: The Times of India, New Delhi
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-terrorism-jihad/simi,-let-be-behind-bangalore/d/309
