Wasif Ahmad • Special to Arab News

BOMBAY, 26 August 2003 — Fifty-six people died and over 150 were injured in two powerful explosions at the Gateway of India and the Mumbadevi temple here yesterday afternoon.

Police sources said explosives concealed in two taxis went off in quick succession in the heart of the metropolis.

Twenty-six people were declared dead on arrival at J.J. Hospital and 85 others were admitted with serious injuries, Maharashtra state Health Minister Digvijay Khanvilkar said.

At G.T. Hospital, three people were declared dead on arrival while 35 were admitted with serious injuries. The death toll is likely to go up.

City Police Commissioner R.S. Sharma said the explosions were suspected to be the handiwork of terrorists but so far no one had claimed responsibility for the blasts.

The explosions occurred in Gujarati-dominated areas, prompting the authorities in the western Maharashtra and Gujarat states to put security forces on red alert.

The police commissioner said security forces suspected the hand of an Islamic extremist group in the blasts.

The driver of a taxi parked at the Gateway of India had been picked up for interrogation, Sharma told reporters here, and several others were being interrogated.

“There are several radical groups, let loose from outside by an enemy country, which are operating in Bombay,” he said.

He said police had identified a radical group which might have triggered off the blasts but refused to reveal its identity.

“Both the bombs were placed in the boot of taxis”, he said.

“We have sent the explosives for forensic testing and the contents of the explosives will be known soon,” he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, who is likely to pay a visit to the city today, said the blasts could be the handiwork of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).

“SIMI has been acting in conjunction with the Lashkar-e-Taiba, and whether today’s blast is also the handiwork of the same organizations will depend on the outcome of the ongoing investigation,” he said.

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee asked for a report from the Maharashtra government on the blasts while BJP leader Pramod Mahajan called for the imposition of president’s rule in the state.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said the government was committed to “overcoming the conspiracy targeted at disrupting life in the city.”

“The blasts are designed to disturb the economic activities of this financial capital, which is also a tourist attraction,” Shinde said in a statement here after the blasts. “We will not spare anybody responsible for this heinous act. The guilty will be brought to book. The state machinery is fully geared for this purpose. I am confident that the citizens of this brave city will cooperate with the government at this hour,” he said.

“I appeal to all of you not to panic. All are requested to cooperate with the authorities and to support them in their work. I also ask that you do not succumb to rumors. It will lead to unnecessary chaos. We are committed to transparency in giving necessary information to the citizens,” he added.

Claiming a constitutional breakdown in Maharashtra, the Bharatiya Janata Party demanded president’s rule in the state. “The law and order situation has collapsed. The constitutional machinery seems helpless before criminal and anti-national forces, and the BJP demands imposition of president’s rule in the state,” BJP spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told reporters in Aurangabad.

Shiv Sena leaders and legislators held a late-night meeting to consider their future strategy in view of the blasts. Sena leader Bal Thackeray was supposed to address a press conference after the meeting but instead his nephew Raj Thackeray briefed reporters saying Bal Thackeray would make a statement today after considering all aspects surrounding the blasts.

Eyewitnesses said blood banks at Nair, G.T. and St. George hospitals, where most of the injured are being cared for, had run out of supplies. At the time of the explosions, police top brass were in a meeting discussing the law and order situation.

The blasts sent shock waves across Bombay with anxious residents desperately trying to call their friends or relatives. Cell phones, however, were of no help as the network had crashed.

Rumors of more blasts were circulating but traffic flowed normally in the city with both Central and Western railway trains running on time. Crowded BEST buses and taxis continued ferrying commuters to the nearest railway station.

Authorities found nine detonators on a rail track near Bombay just hours after the bombs exploded in the city.

Several sleepers had also been removed and used to block the tracks on a line being used by millions of pilgrims headed to a major Hindu festival, railway police said. A trainload of pilgrims was halted after the detonators were found.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan described the bomb blasts as “despicable acts of terrorism” that could only be condemned. Annan’s spokesman released a statement saying: “The secretary general utterly condemns the terrorist bomb attacks today” in Bombay.

It added: “He is adamantly opposed to all acts of terrorism, from whatever quarter.

“The secretary general conveys his heartfelt condolences to the government of India and the bereaved families of the victims of these despicable acts of terrorism.”

Also, Russia “resolutely condemned” the car bomb attacks and compared the blasts with attacks against civilians by Chechen suicide bombers.

“Russia resolutely condemns the terrorist acts in Bombay and is confident that those who organized and carried them out will be tracked down and severely punished,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“Russia shares the Indian people’s grief over the death of innocent people and it sends its condolences to their families and relatives,” it said.