Associated Press
written by Nirmala George
Thursday July 14, 2011
MUMBAI, India (AP) -- Indian police are looking into "every possible hostile group" in their search for the culprits behind the triple bombing in the heart of Mumbai that killed 17 people and wounded 131 others, the country's top security official said Thursday.
The attacks, which authorities said came without warning, were the worst terror strike in the country since the siege of Mumbai that killed 166 people 31 months ago, and government officials were struggling to reassure Indians over their safety.
"I want to assure everyone both in India and outside, that India will continue to work and grow and prosper," Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said at a news conference Thursday after an emergency security meeting.
No one has claimed responsibility for Wednesday's bombings, which shook three separate neighborhoods within minutes of each other during the busy evening rush hour. The attack came just months after peace talks resumed between India and Pakistan. Indian officials have so far refused to speculate who might be behind the blasts.
"We are not pointing a finger at this stage," Chidambaram said. "We have to look at every possible hostile group and find out whether they are behind the blast."
A steady drizzle washed away bloodstains and threatened evidence at the site of the attacks, which ripped off storefronts, shredded a bus stop and left bodies strewn in the dirt of Mumbai's crowded neighborhoods and market. Investigators covered the blast sites with plastic sheets to protect the evidence, police officer Shailesh Kadam said.
Shellshocked residents lambasted the government for failing to detect the plot, despite massive security measures taken after the attacks three years ago that New Delhi has blamed on Pakistan-based Islamist militants.
"After the 2008 blast and all the media hype (about safety) we thought we were safe. But things still are the same and people in Mumbai continue to feel vulnerable," said Anita Ramaswami, a 33-year-old accountant.
Chidambaram said Indian intelligence had received no warning of a possible attack on Mumbai before the blasts.
"Whoever has perpetrated this attack has worked in a very, very clandestine manner," he said.
The bomb in the Dadar area in central Mumbai was placed on a bus shelter; in the Opera House business district in southern Mumbai it was placed on the road; in the Jhaveri Bazaar jewelry market a few miles (kilometers) away it was on a motorcycle, Chidambaram said.
The bombs were made of ammonium nitrate and were not remotely triggered, he said. Police were gathering evidence about the triggering or timing mechanism that set off the bombs and what types of containers they were in, Chidambaram said.
Surveillance cameras were in place at all three blast sites, Chidambaram said, but he did not reveal if any information was gleaned from them.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the blasts and appealed to the people of Mumbai "to remain calm and show a united face."
Pakistan's government expressed distress about the loss of lives and injuries soon after Wednesday's blasts were reported.
Police and fire officers removed two dozen scooters and motorcycles from the jewelry market that were overturned and damaged by the impact of the powerful explosion.
The blasts marked the first major attack on Mumbai since 10 militants laid siege to the city for 60 hours in November 2008. That attack targeted two luxury hotels, a Jewish center and a busy train station.
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