India on high alert after Ahmedabad blasts

Two more unexploded bombs were found in the city of Surat on Sunday, one of the world’s biggest diamond-polishing centres, police said.

A little-known group called the ‘Indian Mujahideen’ claimed responsibility for the Ahmedabad blasts on Saturday. The same group said it carried out bomb attacks in Jaipur that killed 63 people in May.

It is unusual for any group to claim responsibility, but Govt says it suspects terror groups from Pakistan and Bangladesh are behind a wave of bombings in recent years, with targets ranging from mosques and temples to trains.

“The entire nation, including major metro cities in India, have been put on high alert and they have been asked to step up security in vital installations,” a Home Ministry spokesman said.

In New Delhi, police used loudspeakers and distributed leaflets in crowded market places, warning people to watch out for unclaimed baggage and suspicious objects.

There were two separate series of bombings in Ahmedadad, the first near busy market places. A second quick succession of bombs went off 20 to 25 minutes later around a hospital, where at least six people died, police said. All were detonated with timers.

“I came with my two children to cheer up my mother admitted to hospital,” said Pankaj Patel, whose son Rohan and daughter Pratha were killed at Ahmedadad hospital. “They were laughing when the blast occurred. Now they are dead.”

Two doctors were killed in the hospital in a blast in which at least one bomb was tied onto a gas cylinder. Charred motorcycles and bicycles were shown outside. TV showed victims writhing in pain and covered in blood on hospital floors.

The other bombs were in Ahmedabad’s crowded old city dominated by its Muslim community. Many of the bombs were packed into metal tiffin boxes, used to carry food, and stuffed with ball-bearings. Some were left on bicycles.

Police found two unexploded bombs in Ahmedabad on Sunday. The state Government ordered the closure of all shops, cinemas and markets and told people to stay indoors.

Both the Ahmedabad and Bangalore are in states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party and are among the country’s fastest-growing.