By KUNA,
New Delhi : Police detained four persons Wednesday in connection with the seven explosions in the Indian city of Jaipur late on Tuesday that killed 60 people and injured 200 others.
Preliminary investigations pointed out to the involvement of Bangladesh-based banned terror group Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islamia (HUJI). The four included a man who was injured in the explosions and a rickshaw puller, a Jaipur police official told news agency Press Trust of India. Preliminary examination of the blast sites hinted the possibility of ammonium nitrate being planted in new cycles and filled with ball bearings and small iron pipes to act as splinters, the official said. The investigations showed that HUJI, which is based in neighbouring Bangladesh, has managed to establish cells in Rajasthan, the official added.
Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan. Rajasthan’s Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria told the news agency today that the death toll may rise as the compilation of number of dead and injured was still on. “As a precautionary measure the government has decided to impose a curfew from morning to evening in parts of the city,” Kataria said. The blasts had occured within a space of 20 minutes in several places in the walled area of Jaipur city. Many security personnel from various agencies have been deployed in Jaipur, a popular tourist destination, which could reached from Delhi within couple of hours Meanwhile, several countries have strongly condemned the serial blasts in Jaipur, popularly known as ‘Pink City’ and formed part of the golden triangle along with Delhi and Agra for international tourists.
US State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement : “The United States condemns the terrorist attacks in Jaipur that have killed and injured many innocent civilians.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families and we express our deepest sympathies to the government and the people of India.” Canada also strongly condemned the near-simultaneous blasts in Jaipur. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in a statement: “I wish to express my indignation and repugnance at the wave of attacks that have plunged the city of Jaipur into mourning. France is more than ever willing to intensify cooperation with India in the anti-terrorist struggle,” said Kouchner The United Arab Emirates has strongly condemned the multiple blasts and expressed full solidarity with India. Israel also strongly condemned the serial blasts in Jaipur, describing it as a heinous act of terror which claimed so many innocent lives.
Last evening’s explosions in Jaipur was the first major terror attack since the serial blasts in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh last November, which had killed 13 people. World famous Sufi shrine at Ajmer also in Rajasthan was also targetted last October. This was the worst terror strike in India after the Mumbai train blasts in July 2006 that had killed 200 people and injured 700. In the past two years, at least 434 people have died in terror attacks across India.