Bangalore's date with terror on Friday afternoon left two persons dead and around a dozen injured, besides bringing all business-related activities to a grinding halt. The city witnessed a total of nine explosions at seven different places between 1.30 pm and 1.45 pm.
Describing the explosions as “low intensity blasts”, Bangalore police commissioner Shankar M Bidari, however, refused to dub them a terrorist act and said: “It is premature to say that. So far, no one has claimed responsibility for these blasts. We are investigating from various angles.”
According to police sources, the first blast took place near an electric transformer located close to a shopping mall at Hosaguddadahalli (off Mysore Road). However, that was not taken note of as passers-by presumed that the deafening sound was caused by the transformer. The second blast took place at a bus stop at Madivala.
The explosives, which were kept in a nearby drain and reportedly detonated by a timer-device, claimed the life of a woman who was waiting for a bus. “The impact of the blast was such that the ceiling of the bus stop was damaged. In the melee, a blunt object hit a woman on her back. While she died on the spot, her husband and two others were injured,” police officials said.
Subsequently, explosions occurred at the Corps of Military Police School and Centre on Hosur Road, Anepalya, Adugodi, at Mallya Hospital near Richmond Circle, Madivala junction, and at Nayanadahalli (off Mysore Road). The explosives were kept by the roadside near drains, electric transformers and traffic junctions.
“The miscreant had mixed urea with other substances to prepare these crude bombs, besides using gelatin sticks,” Bidari said. All the bombs, which had been kept on the left side of the road, were reportedly planted 11.30 am onwards, sources added.
The blasts have not only jolted the 55-day-old BJP government, which a fortnight ago had to grapple with communal violence in J C Nagar -Shivajinagar and other parts of the city. Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa termed the blasts as a “conspiracy by mischief-mongers to tarnish the image of his government”.
He appealed to the people not to panic. However, that did not bring down the anxiety level among the people. Minutes after the news about the blasts was picked up by the media, the communication lines got jammed in the city as people refused to take their fingers off their mobile keypads in a bid to contact their friends and relatives.
Desperate to make a call, people were seen standing in long queues in front of the coin-box telephone booths. This apart, the city also witnessed traffic snarls at several places as people tried to rush back home from their offices.
Several IT companies, which anticipated trouble in the wake of the blasts, let their employees go home by 3 pm. Police sources maintained that IT sector was not the target.
