NEW DELHI/PUNE, 9 March 2006 — Shocked and angered Hindus pledged yesterday to take revenge for blasts that rocked the ancient city of Varanasi Tuesday killing 23 people and wounding scores of others, as police claimed to have gunned down three suspected militants, sources said.
The blasts sparked a nationwide alert.
Men, women and children trooped to the bloodstained Sankat Mochan temple where the first of three powerful bombs went off Tuesday. “Blood for blood,” they chanted as troops nervously ringed the temple.
“Varanasi is the cradle of Hinduism and this temple is at the core of our belief and if terrorists think they can shake our faith with bombs then they are wrong,” said Kaushal Vir Bhadra Mishra, the temple’s chief priest.
“The terrorists have drawn blood and now it’s our turn,” said Hindu militant leader Raghubir Singh, unsheathing a scimitar in one of the serpentine lanes of Varanasi.
“People torn by inner torment ultimately find salvation in Varanasi and these terrorists have brought hatred to our land of worship,” wept R.K. Dubey, a devotee.
“If the police fail to get them, then we will,” he said amid concerns of a Hindu backlash against Muslims in Varanasi.
Some residents, however, said they would not let the blasts disrupt life.
“There is no tension. It’s nothing related to Hindus and Muslims. It is a terrorist incident and people are treating it like that. Everybody is sad but life goes on,” one of the residents said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the three separate blasts, which came a week before Holi, the Hindu festival of color.
Yashpal Singh, the police chief of Uttar Pradesh, said he suspected Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Police and federal soldiers patrolled Varanasi as a shutdown called by right-wing Hindus crippled life in the city, where the streets are normally clogged with devotees, tourists, beggars, fortune-tellers — and cows. Shops and businesses in the city downed shutters and authorities closed schools and colleges as a precaution.
Many markets in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh’s capital, were also closed but there were no reports of trouble from across the state.
The usually bustling river banks were bereft of Western travelers who visit Varanasi by the thousands.
“I want out... I am getting the creeps. This is no place for a holiday,” said 27-year-old Kate Williams, an Australian nurse.
California graduate Jordana Stein and two of her American classmates, Erin Sasan and Rachael Klipp, were on an “adventure holiday” to South Asia and arrived here Sunday from nearby Nepal.
Meanwhile, three alleged terrorists of the Lashker (were gunned down by police in Lucknow yesterday. Police said that a large cache of arms and explosives were recovered from them. Delhi Police said the shooting took place in the Bawana area of west Delhi in which one militant was killed while the other was arrested. Police said both of them were wanted in several terror attacks in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.
Police said the three militants were on the most wanted list for several cases of blasts and attacks on police teams in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.
According to police, one of them, Ghulam Yazdani, was the mastermind behind bombings in these four states and the second terrorist was identified as Ahsan Ullah Hasan. They said that Yazdani is from Nalgonda district in Andhra Pradesh while Hasan is from Bangladesh.
In another incident, a suspected Lashker militant identified as Salaar alias Salim, who police say was linked to the Varanasi bombings, was shot dead in Lucknow.
“We had announced a cash reward of Rs.50,000 on Salaar and he was wanted for carrying explosions in Rajasthan and Agra,” said Karnail Singh, joint commissioner Special Cell, Delhi Police. Police said that both Yazdani and Hasan had received training in Pakistan and were later sent to India through Bangladesh to carry out attacks.
Meanwhile, to avaoid any communal disturbances, security was beefed up in most of northern India.
A high alert was sounded also in Maharashtra. Security was heightened and all the police stations, particularly in the twin cities of Bombay and Pune were instructed to take all precautionary measures to avoid any untoward situation.
Following intelligence inputs from federal security agencies that there was a strong possibility of the terrorists targeting temples in Bombay and defense installations in Pune, the police beefed up security and carried out surveillance at airports, railways stations, bus terminus and at crowded public places al over the state. — Additional input from agencies.
