‘Foreign terrorists’ cited as 60 die in synchronized bicycle bombings in ancient tourist town of Jaipur
The Toronto Star, May 14, 2008
Sonya Fatah
NEW DELHI–At least 60 people were killed in the walled city of Jaipur after a series of bombs ripped through six different locations last night, including a blast at one of India’s most popular tourist destinations.
More than 150 people were injured in the co-ordinated terror attack in Jaipur, also known as the Pink City, which is in India’s western state of Rajasthan.
The seven bombs, which went off within 15 minutes of one another, and that occurred in the city’s most crowded areas, were in plastic bags tied to parked bicycles and were composed of iron ball bearings and clock timers.
They were detonated using mobile phones, according to intelligence officials, who said they had no prior warning of the attack.
One bomb detonated near the Johari Bazaar, the city’s jewellery market popular with tourists, badly damaging the Lakshmi Mishtaan Bhandar, one of the oldest sweetmeats shops in Jaipur.
The high tourist season ended in March, however, and there was no immediate indication that foreigners had been caught in any of the explosions. Another bomb exploded near the popular temple of the Hindu monkey god, Hanuman, inside the walled city.
The first of the bombs went off at 7:45 p.m. local time and the remaining six exploded in quick succession in crowded market areas. Police said an eighth bomb was found and defused by police.
“Such acts of terror will not be tolerated and the perpetrators will be brought to book,” Vasundhara Raje Scindia, Rajasthan’s chief minister, told reporters.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, president of the country’s ruling party, the Indian National Congress, also condemned the attacks.
No group claimed responsibility but officials in India’s home ministry were already suspecting the hand of “foreign terrorists,” a label that is commonly understood to refer to India’ strategic foe and long-time rival, Pakistan.
There was plenty of speculation that the attacks could also be the work of militant outfit, Lashkar-e-Toiba or the Students Islamic Movement of India.
Security analysts were quickly computing possible triggers for the attack. Some suggested that the attack could a response to recent skirmishes along the line of control, one of the most militarized zones in the world that separates the disputed territory of Kashmir.
The timing of the attack might be linked to today’s 10th anniversary of Pokhran, one of five nuclear tests conducted in 1998 in the state of Rajasthan, when India and Pakistan almost went to war, according to security expert B. Raman.
Last November, a series of bombs attached to bicycles, went off outside courts in three cities in Uttar Pradesh state, killing 13 people.
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