Jul 30 2008
Surat bomb toll rises to 20
After recovery of 18 bombs and confiscated 2 explosives laden cars from Surat in the last two days, the scenario continued on the third day with discovery of 2 more bombs found in the Heera Bazaar and another on a treetop in the Kapodara area of Surat. Bombs were later defused successfully by the bomb disposal squad.
19th live bomb was found on the busy Varacha Road in the morning followed by next in the Prestige market shortly after Chief Minister Narendra Modi visited the diamond city.
After visiting the places from where live bombs were recovered, Modi said that terrorists were waging a proxy war against India and stressed on the need to unite as a country to fight the menace of terror.
Modi said,” the country needed to fight the “proxy war” being waged by terrorists.”
He announced a reward of Rs 51 lakh for information leading to the terrorists involved in the Ahmedabad serial blasts and the planting of bombs in Surat. He said with terrorists targeting cities like Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mumbai and Hyderabad, it seemed that their intention was to cripple financial activities in the country.
Modi also announced rewards of Rs 21,000 each for those who gave information about live bombs and cars laden with explosives found from Surat and Ahmedabad on Sunday. Police said it was similar to the 18 found yesterday from in and around Varacha, where several diamond processing units are located.
The bombs planted in Surat had integrated circuits (IC), Deputy Director of Forensic Science Laboratories (FSL), Surat, S M Darji said. It was the first time when ICs are used in bombs.
25 teams of ATS have started their investigations into the Ahmedabad blasts. The Mumbai crime branch has also assured its assistance to the ATS teams investigating the blasts case.
Meanwhile, Harakat ul-Jihad-I-Islami (HuJI) has also claimed responsibility for the Ahmedabad blasts. Gujarati TV channel TV9 on Wednesday received a letter from HuJI in which they claimed responsibility for the blasts.
Earlier, it was reported that the Indian Mujahideen had also written e-mails to several media houses claiming responsibility of the blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad.
In the wake of rise in toll of recovery of bombs, strict security measures are being taken in the city.
