07-30-2008, 01:20 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Surat stunned</b>
Pioneer.com
RK Misra | Gandhinagar/ Surat
18 live bombs defused in diamond city
The police in the diamond city of Surat had a busy day on Tuesday as 18 bombs were recovered and defused giving enough indications that the terror plot in Gujarat is still unfolding.
Surat Police Commissioner RMS Brar confirmed the recovery and said that timely warning by agile citizens had helped avert an Ahmedabad type situation. "The bomb squad has defused the improvised explosives", he added.
Brar said that 18 bombs had been recovered from 11 places. While 14 were recovered from the Varachha Road area, three were found in Katargam and one in Sardar Chowk. These have now been handed over to forensic experts.
<b>Highly placed sources said all the bombs had electric circuit as against the clock timer devices in the ones recovered earlier from Surat as well as those used in the explosions in Ahmedabad.</b>
The flashing news of the recovery of the bombs led to panic and all schools and colleges were ordered closed. Also closed were all the multiplexes, cinema halls and shopping malls as a precautionary measure. This is the third day in succession that establishments have remained closed in this diamond and art silk hub due to the bomb scare. These malls, schools, colleges and business establishments will also remain shut on Wednesday.
From the detection of the first bomb early in the morning to well past the afternoon, the information continued to flow in keeping the cops on the run. Brar has demanded additional bomb disposal squads to deal with such an eventuality. Interestingly, of the total 18 bombs recovered on Tuesday, as many as 10 were found in the Varachha Road and Katargam areas which is the hub of the diamond cutting and polishing industry. The Rs 60,000 crore turnover industry, 75 per cent of which is based in Surat, has been badly hit by the bombs. The bulk of the units, already hit by labour trouble, have been closed since Sunday causing huge monetary losses.
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Highly placed sources believe that the placing of explosives is an attempt to create panic to disrupt economic activity as much as to ridicule the cops and undermine public morale. </span>
Bombs have been detected at treetops and even strung behind hoardings as well as on shutters of closed shops. This can serve no other purpose", source added, pointing out that why else would two of the bombs be placed right in front of the Labheswar police chowky and Sardarpura police stations, two in the diamond market adjacent to Varachha Road, and one in the Radhakrishna textile market, two on a flyover. Interestingly, the effort seemed to be more to reveal than to conceal for the bombs were not wrapped or kept in tiffin boxes as was done in Ahmedabad but were virtually up for display in their trademark red and blue wooden boat shaped packing.
Even as the administration ordered the installation of closed circuit cameras in key public parking places, Minister of State for Home Amit Shah assured results soon and also appealed to the people in the State not to panic or spread rumours.
<b>Meanwhile, the three suspects -- Abdul Qadir, Haseel Mohammad and Hussain Ibrahim -- who were detained from near Surendranagar on Monday -- are being interrogated for their possible links with the outlawed SIMI and 'Indian Mujahideen', police said. </b>Police said they were questioning SIMI activist Abdul Halim but declined to give any details on what he has revealed so far. Halim, who was arrested on Sunday, was remanded in police custody by a court. Health Minister and Government spokesperson Jaynarayan Vyas said the probe was steadily moving towards its objective but it would not be prudent to provide any lead to the media at present as it would affect the investigations.
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Pioneer.com
RK Misra | Gandhinagar/ Surat
18 live bombs defused in diamond city
The police in the diamond city of Surat had a busy day on Tuesday as 18 bombs were recovered and defused giving enough indications that the terror plot in Gujarat is still unfolding.
Surat Police Commissioner RMS Brar confirmed the recovery and said that timely warning by agile citizens had helped avert an Ahmedabad type situation. "The bomb squad has defused the improvised explosives", he added.
Brar said that 18 bombs had been recovered from 11 places. While 14 were recovered from the Varachha Road area, three were found in Katargam and one in Sardar Chowk. These have now been handed over to forensic experts.
<b>Highly placed sources said all the bombs had electric circuit as against the clock timer devices in the ones recovered earlier from Surat as well as those used in the explosions in Ahmedabad.</b>
The flashing news of the recovery of the bombs led to panic and all schools and colleges were ordered closed. Also closed were all the multiplexes, cinema halls and shopping malls as a precautionary measure. This is the third day in succession that establishments have remained closed in this diamond and art silk hub due to the bomb scare. These malls, schools, colleges and business establishments will also remain shut on Wednesday.
From the detection of the first bomb early in the morning to well past the afternoon, the information continued to flow in keeping the cops on the run. Brar has demanded additional bomb disposal squads to deal with such an eventuality. Interestingly, of the total 18 bombs recovered on Tuesday, as many as 10 were found in the Varachha Road and Katargam areas which is the hub of the diamond cutting and polishing industry. The Rs 60,000 crore turnover industry, 75 per cent of which is based in Surat, has been badly hit by the bombs. The bulk of the units, already hit by labour trouble, have been closed since Sunday causing huge monetary losses.
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Highly placed sources believe that the placing of explosives is an attempt to create panic to disrupt economic activity as much as to ridicule the cops and undermine public morale. </span>
Bombs have been detected at treetops and even strung behind hoardings as well as on shutters of closed shops. This can serve no other purpose", source added, pointing out that why else would two of the bombs be placed right in front of the Labheswar police chowky and Sardarpura police stations, two in the diamond market adjacent to Varachha Road, and one in the Radhakrishna textile market, two on a flyover. Interestingly, the effort seemed to be more to reveal than to conceal for the bombs were not wrapped or kept in tiffin boxes as was done in Ahmedabad but were virtually up for display in their trademark red and blue wooden boat shaped packing.
Even as the administration ordered the installation of closed circuit cameras in key public parking places, Minister of State for Home Amit Shah assured results soon and also appealed to the people in the State not to panic or spread rumours.
<b>Meanwhile, the three suspects -- Abdul Qadir, Haseel Mohammad and Hussain Ibrahim -- who were detained from near Surendranagar on Monday -- are being interrogated for their possible links with the outlawed SIMI and 'Indian Mujahideen', police said. </b>Police said they were questioning SIMI activist Abdul Halim but declined to give any details on what he has revealed so far. Halim, who was arrested on Sunday, was remanded in police custody by a court. Health Minister and Government spokesperson Jaynarayan Vyas said the probe was steadily moving towards its objective but it would not be prudent to provide any lead to the media at present as it would affect the investigations.
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