India readies for festivals, police hunt bombers (Reuters) Updated: 2005-10-31 09:15
HIGH ALERT
Amid a high alert over the bombings, a special court is due to sentence seven
people on Monday convicted over a 2000 attack on Delhi's 17th Century Red Fort
landmark that killed three people and which was blamed on Lashkar.
Saturday's blasts came as Indian and Pakistani officials in Islamabad agreed
to open the Kashmir frontier to help victims of this month's devastating Kashmir
quake, the latest step in a sometimes unsteady peace process opposed by some
Kashmiri rebels.
The attacks are also not seen hurting robust stock markets.
"The blasts are negative but I don't see a major fall in stocks ... as the
market has already been through a tailspin in the past few sessions," said Arun
Kejriwal, strategist at Mumbai research firm KRIS.
But in a week crammed with Hindu and Muslim festivities, security has been
stepped up for a one day cricket match between India and Sri Lanka in the
western city of Jaipur.
India has blamed previous militant attacks on Pakistan-based rebels. However,
the country is also racked by scores of revolts and in May two blasts blamed on
Sikh separatists killed one person and wounded dozens at Delhi cinemas.
Speculation centers on Lashkar and other Kashmiri groups seen as having the
skills and resources needed for such an attack.
But Kashmir's largest rebel group, the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, has said Islamic
militants would never strike at civilians.
Delhi's chief minister has appealed for people to stay away from public areas
for the next few days ahead of Diwali and Eid.
While cheap hotels and lodges in a popular backpackers' area hit by one of
Saturday's blasts report a dramatic drop in foreign bookings, the scene at India
Gate, a monument in the heart of the city was like any other holiday on Sunday.
Dozens of teenagers played cricket on the lawns, and domestic and foreign
tourists wandered around taking photographs.
"It is a sad event but life has to go on," said Meenakshi Dutta, visiting
from Kolkata, formerly Calcutta.
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