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Sixteen bombs hit India's Ahmedabad, 29 killed
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-07-27 08:43 ISLAMIST MILITANTS Both states targeted in the bomb attacks are ruled by the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and are among the country's fastest-growing. Suspicion is falling on Islamist militants intent on destabilizing India by fanning tensions between Hindus and Muslims, and police were deployed in Ahmedabad on Saturday to maintain calm. India has suffered a wave of bombings in recent years, with targets ranging from mosques and Hindu temples to trains.
"The government had received a threat e-mail and we are probing into it," local state government Home Minister Amit Shah told Reuters. So far, police say they have few leads into Friday's Bangalore bombings. On Saturday, another unexploded bomb was found near a shopping mall in Bangalore, but it was unclear whether the bomb was newly planted or meant to have exploded during Friday's attacks, police said. India's home ministry said on Friday it suspected "a small militant group" was behind the Bangalore attacks, while some police officials suspected the blasts could be the work of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India. Some IT companies in Bangalore, known as India's Silicon Valley, were increasing security after bombs went off there. Each bomb had a similar explosive force to one or two grenades. The city is a prominent software development centre and is also home to a major outsourcing industry. Also nicknamed the "world's back office," Bangalore has more than 1,500 top firms, including Infosys, Wipro and the offices of global firms such as Microsoft Corp and Intel Corp. "If such incidents continue, investors will fly away from the city," said state opposition politician Mallikharjuna Kharge. |