Blasts in Bangalore on 25/7/8

HYDERABAD: A high alert was sounded in the city and across the state following Friday afternoon’s serial blasts in Bangalore. In Hyderabad and Cyberabad, security was beefed up even as bomb disposal squads were rushed to public places for frisking operations. Also, checks were intensified at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad, railway stations, bus stations and important government establishments. "Special checkings are being carried out at railway stations and religious places," City joint commissioner of police (C&S), Kripanand Tripathi Ujela said. The serial blasts in Bangalore occurred at communally sensitive places, and taking a note of this, the city police here immediately beefed up security in the Old City. Being a Friday, the police presence was already high in the Old City and with the high alert, the armed police remained stationed till late in the night at all communally sensitive places in the city. Police also alerted the managements of all shopping malls and cinemas. "Managers of all the crowded malls and cinema halls were asked to intensify the frisking and were told to alert the police if they noticed anything suspicious," Police Commissioner B Prasada Rao said. In Cyberabad, armed police were deployed at Hitex, Cyber Towers and Shamshabad airport. "We are also carrying out surprise vehicle checking at all the entry points in the city," Cyberabad Police Commissioner, S Prabhakar Reddy said.


The blasts took place at the Madiwala bus depot, Mysore road, Adugudi, Adugudi, Koramangla, Vittal Mallaya road, Langford Town and Richmond Town. (TOI graphic)
More Pictures
BANGALORE: There's a certain inevitability about it. It's now almost a pattern that terrorists strike even before the nation recovers from its last shock, to leave it traumatized again. The target this time was Bangalore, the country's IT capital, which has been in the terror shadow for long. The city became a target of eight serial blasts on Friday, leaving one dead, eight injured and the city scarred. The bombs were of low intensity, aimed more at dislocating economic activity than killing hundreds of people. ( Watch ) Only in May, 68 people were killed by terrorists in Jaipur. Even as the police was groping to identify the culprits there, terrorists cocked a snook at the security agencies, triggering eight serial blasts in 35 minutes at seven places during the busy lunch hour. (In Pics: Bangalore serial bomb blasts) The lone victim was Sudha, who was waiting at the Madivala bus stand. Her husband Ravi, who was standing beside her, was severely injured. Two others — Chetan and Gullamma — were also injured. Police said the bombs were put together with ammonium nitrate, commonly used in gelatin sticks, and used nuts and bolts as shrapnel. Timer devices were used to trigger the blasts between 1.40pm and 2.15pm in non-descript places — on a traffic island, inside a drain, a vacant plot next to a vehicle showroom. As word of the blasts spread, malls, cinema halls and schools shut down for the day. No group claimed responsibility until late Friday, but intelligence sources said Lashkar-e-Taiba and SIMI were main suspects. "The aim of these groups, whether Huji, LeT or SIMI, is clear. Bangalore and Hyderabad are chosen because by hitting them, panic can be conveyed to US and the west as these cities house their biggest IT operations," said a security official involved in the Mecca Masjid probe.