NEW DELHI/JAIPUR, 14 May 2008 — Seven major bomb blasts rocked Jaipur last night killing at least 80 people and injuring more than 100. The blasts took place within a span of 15 minutes at around 7.40 p.m. in densely populated areas, situated within a radius of one kilometer of each other.
This was the first time that Jaipur, known as the Pink City, had been targeted by terrorists. Shocked by the blasts, people in the five congested areas panicked leading to a near-stampede situation. While one of the bombs had been placed in a car, another occurred near a handloom shop in the Kotwali area of the walled city, sources said.
The wounded were ferried to nearby hospitals. “It was obviously a terror attack,” said Rajasthan Director General of Police A.S. Gill. “The Jaipur blast cannot be connected with the Ajmer Sharif blast,” he said. Blasts at the Muslim shrine of Ajmer last year on Oct. 11 killed two, injuring around 10.
“The way it has been done, the attempt was to cause maximum damage to human life,” he said, adding bicycles may have been used in the bombings. He added that the intelligence agencies were caught off guard as no alerts had been issued.
Shortly after the bombings, authorities put New Delhi, India’s capital, and Mumbai, the country’s financial center, on high alert along with several other cities.
Security was also quickly stepped up at airports and railway stations across the country, said Sriprakash Jaiswal, India’s junior home minister.
The areas targeted included Tripolia Bazar — where a temple draws a large number of Hindu devotees with it being a Tuesday (a special day for devotees of Hindu deity Hanuman), Johari Bazar (the city’s jewelry market and a popular destination for tourists), Manas Chowk, Badi Choupal and Choti Choupal in the walled part of the city. The tourist season, however, ended in March and there were no immediate indications that foreigners had been caught in the explosions.
Parikshit Bhandari, who saw the attack near the jewelry market, said there was “blood all around and wounded people crawling on the ground.” Television channels showed footage of mangled bicycles, damaged cars and overturned bicycle rickshaws, the most popular mode of transport in the crowded lanes of Jaipur.
Expressing shock, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said: “The main intent of the dastardly attack was to cause loss of life to innocent people and create an atmosphere of fear and insecurity.” He spoke to Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia and assured all possible assistance to restore normalcy.
Indian President Pratibha Patil and US Ambassador to India David Mulford condemned the attack. “There can be no possible justification for murderous attacks on innocent people,” Mulford said.
Jaipur is popularly known as the “Pink City” because of the ochre-pink hue of its hill top forts, Hindu maharajah’s palaces and crenellated city walls.
— Additional input from agencies
