Terror hits Ahmedabad 16 times

Most of the blasts were reported from the crowded old city areas east of river Sabarmati, including at least three in Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency of Maninagar. Like in Jaipur, police said, the blasts were carried out using bombs planted on cycles parked in crowded market areas. Most blasts were of low intensity, fitted with timer devices, and used ammonium nitrate and gelatin sticks as the explosive material, according to preliminary forensic investigations, said Home Department sources. The targets were carefully chosen with areas typically crowded in the evening. Most of these areas are inhabited by low-wage industrial labour from outside Gujarat.

The blasts began at around 6.35 pm with the first reported from Hatkeshwar circle. Harshad Patel, an eyewitness to this blast, said he saw a man parking his cycle and asking the fruit vendor the rates of apples and then left the place. The blast occurred within minutes of the incident leaving two dead on the spot, while one died on reaching the hospital.

At the Thakkarbapanagar blast, eyewitnesses identified a man wearing a black shirt and blue trousers leaving a bicycle. The blast happened even as the man had barely moved 100 m away, said those present. This blast left four dead and eight injured.

More than half the blasts occurred in places like Asarwa, Narol Circle, Sarangpur Bridge, Sardar Patel and Hatkeshwar in the eastern part of the city which hosts numerous defunct textile mills and also the Sardar Patel Diamond Market, one of the five centres of the state’s diamond polishing business. Most of the 50,000 retrenched mill workers live in these localities.

The Diamond Market was the hardest hit with two blasts on tiffins tied above cycles in its parking lot claiming, seven lives and injuring 20 others. Jagdish Meena, a helper at a tea restaurant near Maninagar bus stand, was returning after delivering tea to some shops when a blast ripped through two stationary city buses. “I was passing the buses when this loud noise clouded my vision for some time and then I realised something had hit my legs. I was picked by some people and brought here,” said Meena, who fractured his leg and arm and was admitted to the LG Hospital — another spot hit by a powerful blast in a parked Maruti car.

Modi held a meeting with Director General of Police P C Pande and Ahmedabad Police Commissioner O P Mathur at the Ahmedabad control room and later appealed for calm and restraint. Home Minister Amit Shah’s constituency Sarkhej also reported one blast in a CNG bus. Coming out of the meeting, Modi denounced the blasts as an attack on humanity. “I assure the state that the Gujarat government will get after the culprits. It’s time to show our resolve and focus on development and defeat the forces against Gujarat,” he said.

Modi also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of those killed and Rs 50,000 to the injured along with full medical treatment. Modi spoke to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, with both assuring all cooperation to the state government. The Centre also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 1 lakh to the next of kin of the dead.

The sites

Maninagar: 5 blasts. Constituency of Chief Minister Narendra Modi

LG Hospital: 1 blast, 4 dead: Modi’s constituency

Civil Hospital: 1 blast, 10 dead

Juhapura: blast in CNG bus, one dead, 8 injured. Muslim-dominated area, constituency of Home Minister Amit Shah

Sarkhej: blast in CNG bus. Muslim-dominated area, Shah’s constituency

Bapunagar: 2 blasts. Constituency of former Home Minister and rebel BJP leader Gordhan Zadafia

Sardar Patel Diamond Market: 1 blast, 7 dead

Sarangpur Bridge connecting Bapunagar and Sarangpur: 1 blast. Mixed population

Issanpura: 1 blast. Hindu-dominated area

Raipur Darwaja: 1 blast. Hindu-dominated area