Breaking News: Nation put on high alert as deadly blasts rock Mumbai

New Delhi – India is on high alert after seven powerful bombs exploded almost simultaneously in different railway stations and moving trains in Mumbai, killing at least 110 people and injuring over 300, Tuesday, July 11, 2006.

Though the immediate cause of the blasts were not known, terrorism has not been ruled out and the Indian Government have ordered the neighboring states of Mumbai, including Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh to closely watch their borders for suspicious movements.

Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Delhi governments were also on high alert as state ministers called for emergency meetings and police personnel were seen rushing to cordon off crowded market areas.

The blasts took place late evening on Tuesday in seven areas of Mumbai city with the first taking place on a local train near Khar. Other blasts took place in Mira Road area, Jogeshwari, Mahim, Borivili, Bhayander and Santacruz. The blasts have targeted the first class compartments of local trains on the Western Line.

Mumbai Police Commissioner, A.N. Roy, said that law–enforcing agencies were trying to restore peace and order. The local authorities have appealed to people to maintain calm.

BEST is running special buses from the blasts sites to help the people.

The city went into a panic as following the blasts, mobile phones were initially jammed and the people could not call up their near and dear ones.

The Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, who is in close touch with Maharashtra Chief Minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh, after meeting Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, addressed newspersons and said that he had adequate information of the group responsible for the blasts. He also said that the situation was being studied and reviewed.

Patil also read out the Prime Minister's message condemning the blasts.

Prime Minister, Dr. Singh, has called for an emergency meeting with the Ministry of Home Affairs to review the security situation in the country.

Intelligence sources have said that the role of Islamic terrorist outfit, Lashkar–e–Toiba (LeT) and India's most wanted criminal, Dawood Ibrahim, cannot be ruled out. They also said that the twin Ghatkopar blasts of 1998 were the first incident of LeT's involvement in Mumbai blasts.

"We are closely watching the situation and gathering all information from railways and authorities in Mumbai," a senior Home Ministry official said and reiterated the Government's determination to fight terrorism.

Congress president, Sonia Gandhi has strongly condemned the terror attacks. She, along with Shivraj Patil, has left for Mumbai. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, L.K. Advani will leave for Mumbai on Wednesday.

Maharashtra Chief Minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh, expressing concern over the incident said that the motive behind the blasts was to disrupt peace and harmony and to create fear among people. He also said that the focus of the government was on rescue and relief operations.

Deshmukh, who has called for an emergency meeting, has announced Rs. 1 lakh compensation to the families of the dead.

According to eye–witnesses, immediately after the blasts, people came out in hordes to help the victims. But the incessant rains came in the way of rescue missions.

The Railway police Force (RPF) jawans arrived at Matunga railway station only half–an–hour after the blast occurred.

Rescuers used bedsheets and other pieces of clothes that were on hand to remove the dead and injured from trains and platforms to nearby hospitals.

Limbs were strewn and blood was splattered all over the compartments where the blasts took place while all the coaches suffered excessive damage, most of them being ripped off.

Since all explosions took place when the trains were either getting into the railway stations or leaving the stations, police officials suspect that either the explosive devices were remote–controlled or fitted with timer devices.

Many of the passengers from adjoining compartments, who were not injured in the blasts, sustained injuries while attempting to jump out of moving trains.

The passengers themselves lent a helping hand in removing the dead and moving the injured out of the mangled train compartments and shifted them to adjoining places from where they were taken to hospitals.

Sources said it was not immediately possible to comment on the nature of explosives used in the blasts till forensic experts and the bomb detection and disposal squads give their statements.

Ammonium nitrate, which is commonly available, had been consistently used in previous blasts in Mumbai, and looking at the nature of damage that has occurred to the railway compartments, police officials do not rule out the possibility of the use of the same chemical in Tuesday's blasts.

Police Commissioner Roy said the blasts could be related to the terrorists who were arrested a few days back. Police had also recovered huge consignments of RDX from several places, including Aurangabad, Nasik and Malegaon.

Police suspect that it is a pre–planned subversive plot similar to the explosions that had rocked Mumbai in 1993 and 2002 and 2003.

The Mumbai airport has been put on high alert.

"The airport has been put under high alert...We have deployed additional companies of quick reaction team commandos to tackle any situation in case of an eventuality," airport security sources said.

The flight operations were not affected but the security was enhanced, sources added.