Friday 25 July, 2008

Serial Blasts Rock Bangalore

A woman was killed and at least six people were injured in a series of six low-intensity blasts carried out in eastern parts of the information technology capital this afternoon.

The woman, who was waiting at a bus shelter in Madivala on the Bangalore-Hosur road, was killed in the blast and her husband and another person were seriously injured, police said.

Bangalore was rocked by a major terrorist attack in December, 2005 when extremists opened fire in the famous Indian Institute of Science complex in which a Delhi IIT professor lost his life.

There were also blasts in other areas like Panthrapalya, Audugodi and Vittal Mallya Road within minutes of each other from the first blast at around 1330 hours.

Police Commissioner Shankar Bidari appealed to the people of the city to maintain calm and carry on with their normal life as police have been put on alert throughout the city.

He said timer device has been used in some of the blasts and explosives in quantity equivalent to one or two hand grenades have been used in some others.

Bidari termed it as an "act of miscreants" trying to disturb peace in Bangalore and appeared pre-planned. "We will get to the criminals and arrest them," he said.

Bomb disposal squads and forensic experts have rushed to the spot for investigations.

Chronology of some recent major bomb blasts in the country:

May 13, 2008: Eight serial blasts rock Jaipur in a span of 12 minutes leaving 65 dead and over 150 injured.

January 2008: Terrorist attack on CRPF camp in Rampur kills eight.

October 2007: 2 killed in a blast inside Ajmer Sharif shrine during Ramadan, in Rajasthan.

August 2007: 30 dead, 60 hurt in Hyderabad 'terror' strike.

May 2007: A bomb at Mecca mosque in Hyderabad kills 11 people.

February 19, 2007: Two bombs explode aboard a train bound from India to Pakistan, burning to death at least 66 passengers, most of them Pakistanis.

September 2006: 30 dead and 100 hurt in twin blasts at a mosque in Malegaon.

July 2006: Seven bombs on Mumbai's trains kill over 200 and injure 700 others.

March 2006: Twin bombings at a train station and a temple in Varanasi kill 20 people.

October 2005: Three bombs placed in busy New Delhi markets a day before Diwali kill 62 people and injure hundreds.

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