By Anil Sharma, Sahil Makkar, Kavita Bajeli-Datt, IANS,
Jaipur : Police and paramilitary forces Wednesday enforced a strict curfew in a large swathe of Jaipur as authorities put the toll in the city’s first and horrific terrorist attack at 63 dead and 216 injured.
Tens of thousands of people were shuttered in their homes as an uneasy calm descended on the city where eight bombs went off Tuesday evening in 15 minutes within a one kilometre radius, causing a bloodbath Jaipur had never witnessed.
But even as one country after another denounced the terror attacks – the US, for instance, offered help in the investigations – Rajasthan’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government accused the central government of failing to provide focussed intelligence that could have foiled the coordinated bombings.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje put the number of dead at 63, including seven women and eight children, and the injured at 216. Doctors said many of the wounded were in a serious condition.
Most were in two hospitals, where doctors worked through the night performing emergency surgeries. Many victims had shrapnel wounds caused when the bombs kept in bags and concealed in nine new bicycles went off without any warning.
Many Jaipur residents crowded the hospitals to offer blood, creating welcome scenes of brotherhood amid sorrow and grief.
Once the curfew in the walled city came into effect at 9 a.m., the streets became deserted. With schools, offices and markets shut, even other parts of the city saw poor traffic on the roads.
A handful of foreign tourists clicked away but refused to speak to journalists.
Addressing her first press conference after the Tuesday mayhem, Raje said: “The bombers targeted crowded places. They wanted to inflict maximum damage. They wanted to raise Hindu-Muslim tensions.
“But I am confident that Jaipur will be back on its feet, there will be no problem. The situation is now completely under control.”
Police said all the dead and injured were Indians. The tourist landmarks of Hawa Mahal, City Palace and Jantar Mantar are in the curfew-bound areas and thus now out of bound for visitors. But this is not the tourist season for the Rajasthan capital, popularly known as the pink city.
The chief minister said the terrorists had used high velocity RDX explosives and ammonium nitrate. “We have got slender leads, not definite leads. We have detained two or three people for questioning.”
Raje said that with a 1,000-km long border with Pakistan, Rajasthan needed a tough law to tackle terrorism, akin to the now defunct Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). “We have sent a similar bill to the central government but it has been lying there for two years.”
Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria told IANS: “The central government is equally responsible for the terror blast in Rajasthan.” He was asked if Rajasthan had been lethargic to warnings from the central government about possible terror attacks.
Inspector General of Rajasthan Police Pankaj Singh said: “We have imposed curfew in the areas under 13 police stations to maintain law and order. During the curfew only those holding funerals for their loved ones who died in the blasts will be allowed to move about.”
One of the carefully choreographed blasts went off near a Hanuman temple that draws a large number of devotees on Tuesdays. The affected areas are home to both Muslims and Hindus. The police defused one explosive.
One police officer said the police were looking for a woman who allegedly promised Rs.100,000 to a rickshaw puller to carry out the terror attacks.
“We are looking for a woman, identified as Meena, who tried to lure a rickshaw puller, Vijay, to carry out the attacks,” the officer said on the condition of anonymity.
Vijay, a resident of Mumbai who suffered minor shrapnel injures, told the police that Meena lives near one of the blast sites. No further details of the woman’s role were available.