After Bangalore, Ahmedabad hit by serial blasts; 10 killed

Ahmedabad/New Delhi, Jul 26 (UNI) A day after the IT hub of Bangalore was hit by serial blasts, another set of 14 explosions rocked Ahmedabad in which 10 people were feared killed and 75 others injured.

Initial reports suggested that bombs were kept in tiffin boxes left in state-run buses.

The blasts took place at Maninagar (3 blasts), Ishanpur (3 blasts), Sarkhej, Naroda, Sarangpur, Khadia, Raipur and Thakkar Bapanagar -- of the city this evening. The blasts took place between 1845 hrs and 2000 hrs.

Most of the bombs were planted in the buses, run by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, during the peak hours. While the two bomb blasts occurred near L G Hospital in Maninagar and at Sangam Cinema House in Sarkhej area of the city.

The first bomb went off in Maninagar area, the constituency of Chief Minister Narendra Modi, in a municipal transport bus, at about 1845 hrs.

All dead and injured have been shifted to various hospitals, including the Civil Hospital, L G Hospital, and the V S Hospital, of the city.

Acting promptly, the civic authorities have stopped plying of all the city transport buses.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister has condemned the serial blasts and urged the people of the state to maintain peace and communal harmony in the state.

State Home Minister Amit Shah earlier confirmed the three blasts and announced a red alert all over the state.

Telephone lines were jammed as people tried frantically to call their near and dear ones to know about their well-being.

A TV channel, meanwhile, claimed that it had received an email from a user, identifying himself as a member of 'Indian Mujahuddin', stating that city will be rocked with serial bomb blasts. The same group had sent similar e-mails to TV channels just before similar serial blasts had rocked civil court premises in Uttar Pradesh a few months ago.

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